My neighbor calls me the robin lady. I'll take it. For years nobody called me anything. Then I bought one cotton sweater from Seen Woman Co. — the cream one with the little red-breasted robins and the branches.

Now I wear it everywhere. Strangers say hello. That's what a bit of joy does after fifty. It puts you back in the room.

34 animal cotton sweaters — each one a different creature, a different color, a different reason to smile before you've said a word:

Not cold. Not invisible. Two problems. One sweater. Every single one chosen in Nashville because it passed one test: does it make her smile before she's even left the house?