Quote:
Originally Posted by Moses
A grizzled old man once told me "If you do it right, life marks you up just right. No need for decoration."
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Thankfully, the "Your Body" thread didn't turn in to a bunch of middle aged (and older) guys posting selfies.
The comments about scars got me thinking about mine. They're small, ones you probably couldn't even see, but they bring back memories.
I have what looks like a mole on my left hand. It's actually a scar from the time my dad told me to go haul a tree branch he'd cut down to the curb. As soon as I picked up the branch I got nailed by a hornet of some sort that emerged from a well hidden nest. In retrospect, I'm pretty sure my dad was chased into the house by the same hornet. I doubt he lost any sleep over it.
Next to the hornet scar is a small mark put there by a friend I've known since high school. He's an odd, but amusing guy who challenged me to a game of "mercy" when we were in our 20s. I've always been stronger than I looked and had no trouble holding him off. He got mad that he couldn't beat me and dug his fingernail into the back of my hand drawing blood. He and I are still close friends today.
On my left thumb next to the "mercy" scar is one I got working on my VW beetle. While driving home from a movie with my closest female friend from high school, the car sputtered while on the highway. I dove for the exit ramp. We coasted up the hill, the light turned green and we coasted around the corner and into a gas station. The distributor gear was stripped. While loosening the adjusting nut my hand slipped and some pointy part left a divot on the back of my thumb. She and I never officially dated, but were best of friends. We're still in touch today, though she has a fairly arrogant and jealous hubby so we rarely talk. We had lunch when I went back to Atlanta for my class reunion. The hubby called in the middle of lunch... could hear him on the phone... "You're still at the restaurant???" I hope that if they ever go their separate ways that the next guy won't feel threatened by her staying in touch with an old friend.
My right rib cage has a small dark spot on the side. Looks pretty much like a dark mole, but it's really a "graphite tattoo," as one doctor called it. When I was a kid, my brother who was 10 years my senior and I were pretending to sword fight with pencils. He lunged I took the pencil in my hand and pretended to have been stabbed. Then I fell to the ground, landing firmly on the pencil! I rolled over and the pencil was sticking straight up! I pulled it out and it bled just a bit. Never told the parents as we both would have been in big trouble. This brother would ask me to come along when he had a movie date with his girlfriend. I remember thinking how cool as I got to see movies my parents would never have gone to see. This brother also got me started with cars, Porsches, and Seikos. He died of a heart attack in his sleep at age 49 - about ten years ago. My dermatologist said he could remove the spot pretty easily. No thanks. I like it right where it is.
So... got any permanent marks with stories and/or meaning?