I shower in the dark. I shave in the dark. I still look 25. Denial is great.

My wife still looks 25 too. Thank god my eyesight sucks.

We're 55. I really don't feel that old.

Tom

You know Tom......I'm also beginning to appreciate not being able to see as well as I used to. I wore my glasses in the bathroom the other day and saw WAY more than I wanted to.

One of my Emotionally Disturbed teenage students said to me (ED kids will say anything to you. I was only in my late 30's then)"Doesn't it bother you all the assistant teachers are younger and prettier then you?" Well, yeah. Principal hired pretty as often as possible. Always qualified, but if prettier, that one. They were young, 20ish. Sigh.......

I am told by new friends who hear my age, " wow you don't look 57!" but I feel physically like I'm 80. The stiffness & pain are occasionally so intense I want to go to the ER for morphine.
I told the neuro I am scared I'll end up in a WC...his response was that he and DH "two bald guys" won't let that happen. But when I hurt so much & feel like I can't walk another step, I think to myself, " my 91 yr old FIL can't walk anymore...am I headed that way?" and I look at myself in the mirror and wonder what woman DH sees when he tells me that I am so pretty...

If you have an iPhone, never use FaceTime, with the little front facing camera. It will frighten you if you aren't prepared for what you see. I feel young but I'm sometimes startled when I look in the mirror and see that older looking woman.

Well....up until this weekend, I was feeling pretty good about myself. Thought that all things considered, I didn't look too bad for my 43 years. Then, twice on Saturday, I was mistaken for the older sister when I was out with my 50 year old big sister.

My ego got well and truly smashed. Sure, we had a massive heat wave and EVERYTHING was a huge effort - but still......

They were both quick to say that they didn't mean I looked older than my 43 years - just that she looked considerably younger than her 50....sigh......

Bit rough on the ego!

I hate the slightly surprised look and the cheery voice saying "But you look so good for your age!!" Talk about a back-handed compliment.

I remember when I was in my 20's thinking people in their 50's looked ancient to me. Now, when I hear my kids talking about some "old" person and then finding out this "old" person is only in their 50's I have to wonder......what on earth do I look like to them!!??

The media based fear of aging programming must have gone right over my head or something, because my body certainly looks its age; and maybe even older than that. Even if it looks and feels older than it is, I still don't care.
Apparently, the younger and older people in my life that share love and companionship with me, also don't care about how my body looks; just as I don't care what their bodies look like either.

Aging is not inevitable, only dying is.
I feel sad when I hear of those who die young, for the privilege of a long life has been taken from them.
I also feel sad for those who direct excessive time, effort and resources toward external appearances; for they may miss experiencing and appreciating the profundity of inner beauty (theirs and that of others).

I have experienced and appreciate that profundity in each and every one of you by the way.
You are truly beautiful, no matter what you look like or how old you are .

With love, Erika