Heart in my hands.....

This is not the post I had intended today-it has come about from a discussion held over at the Down To Earth Forum.

One of the members there asked...."will you hold out one of your down to earth hands...?" and I wrote this in response:

Oh yes...I know those hands...chipped nails, scarred skin and all. The same hands that have grubbed in the soil, kneaded bread ,wiped tears and stroked little heads.

Those hands tell the story of your life and I always smile when I see another set like mine. Those hands are seldom empty and always available to take those of another in need.

My mother has hands like mine-and each day I'm proud to see more and more of her in myself.

These photos are of my left hand ( I'm right handed and taking a photo was a *little* tricky!).... I don't wear my wedding or engagement rings-haven't done since 2004 when I started training in the ocean for an English Channel Relay swim ( I was terrified of losing them). I don't need obvious accoutrements to know that I am married and committed to that marriage............and hasn't the choice to not wear my rings caused quite some conversations over the years!

 

 These hands have scars and sunspots-the veins are becoming obvious as my skin begins to thin with age. They are the hands of a proudly middle-aged woman...because hello people 45 IS middle aged!

I have some arthritis in a couple of fingers-the same ones which were broken and dislocated playing sport ( I gave up netball two years ago due to my neck issues)...unusually my hands & nails are clean-because at this point I'm still not able to garden.....in a few weeks there will soil under my nails again!

What story do your hands tell about you?