I was thinking the other day how beautiful scars are. They are a permanent reminder of terror, bravery, foolishness and the fragility of life. I never hesitate to ask people about their scars, simply because I like them so much. I honestly don’t believe I’ve ever offended anyone by asking either, because my curiosity comes from a place of admiration, not disgust.
One of my best friends has a scar that runs from one side of her stomach to the other like a prehistoric ceasarean scar. She was in an accident when she was eight and was almost completely cut in half. I went to school with a girl who had a scar that ran down the thumb on her left hand and down to her wrist. She was born with two thumbs on the same hand. My great aunt dated a guy who was missing one of his ring fingers. He stuck his hand in a cage at the zoo and a monkey bit it off. (I actually need to clarify that one. I was told that when I was eleven and every time I repeat it as an adult, it sounds less and less plausible.)
Here are my scars.
Two small but deep cuts on my right hand.
I don’t know what they are from. Neither do my parents but I’ve had them as long as I can remember and they didn’t get there without an injury.
Belly button ring scar.
I got my belly button pierced when I was sixteen years old and my body rejected it. I now have a pink bumpy scar above my belly button.
A small round splotch on my knee.
I was a warty kid. I was the kid that no one wanted to holds hands with in year six because I had THIRTEEN warts on my hands. It was fifteen originally but three of them grew together on my thumb to form one giant Wart King, taking my count to thirteen. They disapeared soon after primary school but the knee one hung around until I was a teenager so I went to the doctor and burned the sucker off. Scar was totally worth it.
A red keloid scar on my chest.
I had a pimple there and I picked it. I now have a weird red, raised scar there. I now know I have the potential to get keloid scars, which are rarer and more unsightly than regular scars.
Share your scars?