Scars

After I finished cyberwhining last night I kept thinking about scars and took a scar inventory. Strictly physical scars, mind you. I don't have a problem with people who choose to reduce or fade their scars, but I think that the folks at Abreva may be cheating people out of some fond memories. So, chronologically (as best as I can remember): 1. I have a smallpox vaccine scar on my left shoulder. When I was a child I spent 2 hours a day at the pool in the summer. The scar would not tan, so I would have a bright starburst area against my skin. I thought that this was pretty cool. 2. I got my ears pierced when I was in the first grade. One day while I was wearing very thick, heart-shaped studs my friend Jeff gave me a hug. The back of the right stud got caught in his sweater and the stud lodged in the hole in my ear. Mom got it out while I was sleeping, but only my left ear was pierced until the seventh grade. My right earlobe still has a very faint, heart -shaped scar. I thought that this was rather cool, too (and still do). 3. When I was 10 or 11 I decided that my cat, Beauty, needed a bath. She handled the bathing part very well, but did not care for the blowdrying. I have a scar roughly the shape of a grain of rice on my right breast that is the result of this adventure. This was not at all cool at the time, but it's my scar and it doesn't bug Tony. 4. At about the same age I wanted to play with my friend Lynn's kitten (not my excellent college friend Lynn, a different Lynn). Lynn's German Shepherd had other ideas and so there is a very tiny scar above my upper lip. That one just hurt and scared me.
I actually have several other scars, from moles removed, various youthful tree-climbing scrapes, Dad's goose, the seagull, a guinea pig and a pair of plastic ice skates, but there really are too many to go into detail about. My point is that I wouldn't feel like myself without most of my scars. Actaully, I wonder what other scars I'll pick up as life draws a map on my skin. I don't have any on my belly, but maybe a caesarian section will change that. My feet are relatively unscathed, but I like to walk around barefoot. I'm OK with scars, internal and external. At least the wounds have healed. By the way, yesterdays scratches are already starting to close.