by sunseed

Created on: May 24, 2007

Rather than fear growing old, most of my life has been spent striving to be older than i was. As a child, i could hardly wait to turn into an adult. That first 18 years felt like decades! Unfortunately i was cursed with extremely child-like features. At 18,i had the appearance of a 14 year old. My father would tell me that I was blessed. I did not feel blessed when at age 27, people would mistake my daughter for my kid sister or worse, glance with disgust at my husband. He was only a year older than me. Oh, how I wanted to be treated and taken seriously for the adult I was.

I got so very irritated when asked to produce a second form of ID!

I was 31 when I purchased alcohol and was not asked to produce an ID by some clerk looking at me as if to say,"nice try kid". Now you would have thought I'd be relieved.I was not. I ran right out and bought my first bottle of wrinkle creme. I began searching for gray hair and did manage to find a couple. For the first time in my life i felt old....very,very old. I was 31 and old and rickety and wrinkly. woe is me! This went on for a week or so as i prayed daily for God to please ,PLEASE, cancel out all those prayers begging to be older. I didn't mean it...really God, I didn't know.

Thanks to an adoring husband and the many wonderful friends that cared about my foolish ego, i was soon laughing at the absurdity of my thinking.

Since then, my life has been so very busy and ever-changing that I have not had time to pause and consider the time that has inevitably crept up on me. I did not notice the wrinkles that were slowly creeping around my eyes any more than I noticed how the luster and shine in my blond hair was gradually being replaced by fuzzy gray strands.

This year I turned 51. I love music and enjoy the old as well as the newer stuff. Inside I still feel much the same as i did at 18. Peering in the mirror I have changed some physically and I have, I hope, gracefully adjusted my wardrobe. I take care of myself and I love my life. Aging is a part of life that no amount of worry is going to stop. One could spend a great deal time and money in an attempt to hide its progression. I suspect that the worrying itself could possibly cause wrinkles to form more rapidly. I would imagine that all that time and money would be better spent towards simply enjoying the life we have.

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