Growing Older Gracefully

My daughter's partner asked me last year why I didn't dye my hair..I told her once you start you have to keep it up. As I've given myself permission to go grey or white as nature intended I imagine if I started to color my hair at this stage of life, it sure would be obvious. And at times I'm tempted.

When I met my spouse of the last fourteen years, I noticed the word "blond" came into conversations quite a bit..so to surprise him one day I had blond streaks added to my hair..I rather liked it but my sister-in-law told me much later that she didn't like it at all..she has always been blond.

In the above picture, I'm third from the left. My girlfriend Carroll to the right of me is the same age and still working three days a week in an office. So I can well understand why she wants to keep the grey out. Her and I have been friends since we were three years old and she is one of the four High School friends that meet up once a year for a three day holiday together. Lois on the far left is also one of our group.  Anne the other lady who joins our group could not make the high school reunion at which this picture was taken.

As I weighed myself up against many old school mates at the reunion several years ago, I felt I had aged quite well actually. There are people who seem ageless and some who age rather quickly. I met one friend who I know must visit a gym, she was so well toned and slim, did I feel a bit of envy, you bet I did..but my skin doesn't look good "green" so I let it go..

I was born with the thickest head of hair, a shiny dark brown in color. As I worked in an office after first married, it was my hair that received the most compliments from office staff.."Your hair is so Thick and Shiny!". How little did they know that I used to struggle with such thick hair as a teenager, never knowing how to tame it, never loving and appreciating it as I should have.

Now that the years have greyed my hair and thinned it out, how I wish I had that unruly thick hair back again. And the shine and sparkle it used to have. It appears dull to me but my hairdresser thinks it's great and has a shine.  People still say: "how lucky you are to have such thick hair"..they should see how many hairs I sweep up every day..will I be bald someday?

It's not only the hair that grows thinner but so does the skin. My doctor warned me over ten years ago to wear long sleeves when outside gardening. Hardly seems fair after covering up in layers all winter, but I do try. I know when I cut myself it seems to take a lot longer to heal. And I've stopped counting old age spots, those brown spots that seem to grow overnight which one simply can't pretend are freckles. My one friend got a special cream to erase hers but I'd have to buy a vat full. I've heard lemon juice might bleach them a bit too but I just can't be bothered.

At five foot two I didn't think shrinking half an inch was bothersome as long as it ends there. Weight seems to go on by just looking at food, so I try and walk everyday and have lost three or four pounds but that's just the tip of the iceberg. I'd have to walk around the world to get back to the weight I'd like to be!

I just realized it doesn't sound like I'm growing old very gracefully..it sounds like I'm complaining a lot, hair and skin getting thin, waistline not! But to be honest I do have a lot to be grateful for, my energy level is still quite high, I can still see with glasses being very near-sighted, I can walk, run if necessary, have great hearing and right now I can hear the refrigerator calling me to come eat a piece of the left-over Christmas cake with a cup of tea!