I’ve always been a little self-concious of my hands. Even when I was younger, they Appeared a little on the “older” side with visible veins and light wrinkles around the knuckles. When I was modeling I was always critical of how they appeared in photos. One time I was at a bar and a guy guessed my age at 30ish. I was in costume so I asked how he could tell, and he said “I could tell by your hands.” So after I punched him in the face, I calmly told him I had always had these hands. My mom and grandmother also have these hands. And how rude can you be to tell a girl she has old hands anyway?

OK, so I didn’t actually punch him, but I did like him just a little bit less after that. And of course the comment stuck with me, confirming all my fears about the appearance of my hands.

I took piano when I was ten and the teacher grabbed my hands on the first day, scrutinizing them and saying “You have good hands for the piano,” and complimented my long thin fingers. So while I didn’t think of them as “pretty,” I did appreciate them being very functional. Unfortunately my musical ability did not live up to my hands’ potential and I dropped out of piano class to pursue more time climbing trees and doing ten-year-old stuff.

My hands have been good to me. They’ve made beautiful costumes. They type as fast as I can think. They can Hold a baby, or 15 tiny cars at once.

Over the years, the rest of me has caught up with my extremities as far as aging is concerned and I thought I’d care a little bit less. And then it takes me 37 photos (give or take) just to get a decent pic of my manicure/ring/watch/whatever, where I’m OK with how my hands look. And even then I add a filter.

But you know who has no clue about my hand issue? My husband. He thinks they are nice hands. He likes to hold them. He doesn’t think these hands look one bit too old. And my son. He loves for these hands to lift him up so he can “hold you, hold you!” They tickle him and walk him safely across the street. He loves these hands too.

And as far as I’m concerned, those are the only opinions that matter