When I lost 170 pounds I found my neck, but alas! It wasn’t very pretty. It could have been best described as a chicken neck…sort of scraggily and sort of baggy, both at the same time. Some excess skin from the weight loss and my 50-plus years combined to create a less-than-pleasant connection between my head and shoulders. It was time for the “Diane Keaton fix.” I bought an enormous amount of turtleneck shirts, one in every color imaginable. I bought long-sleeved shirts and sweater turtlenecks for winter; I bought short-sleeved ones in lighter-weight fabric for summer. My neck was covered at all times, except when bathing, swimming or sleeping. (I tried to find turtleneck-styled sleep and swim ware. No luck.)

For almost 10 years, very few people ever saw my neck. Gifts of low-neck blouses, shirts and sweaters were either returned or shoved into drawers. I did not have the courage to even try them on.

Then came my 60’s, a few added pounds and gravity. One night my chicken neck disappeared and was replaced by a turkey neck. My jowls turned into a wattle which bulged out or rested on top of my turtlenecks. Like Nora Ephron, I definitely felt bad about my neck…well, maybe, more than bad. I was miserable. It was time to retire my turtlenecks—my mammoth and expensive collection—and replace them with…I wasn’t sure what!

Out of my drawers came the low-cut tops and with them my new fashion style. With this new style came a discovery. I looked pretty good in these tops, wattle included.

My neck has served as the impetus to accept myself as I am and not as I wished I could be. My neck may not be the prettiest (and I may have lost a lot of money on my turtlenecks, which are now being distributed at Goodwill Stores), but I’m okay! It’s just too bad that Diane Keaton and Nora Ephron haven’t learned this lesson, too!