Approaching Forty - Part II

To cover those grays, or to not? That is the burning question. They're definitely noticeable, though not attention grabbing. Just right around the ears. And in truth, I really feel I have earned each and every one. Not to mention the fact that I do not normally color my hair. It seems silly to start now. Why fight it, right?

I have never looked my age. When I was younger, I looked older. This led to trouble for me, and for a few unsuspecting older boys. Then in my 20s, I pretty much looked like I was indeed in my twenties, but could easily pull off 21 at 28. This good fortune continues today, I hear all the time that I look much younger than I am. Maybe people are just being kind, but I refuse to believe that. Not that people aren't kind, but why wouldn't I trust a kind person's opinion? I'm not stupid, but I digress. So now, I think I am inching closer to looking, well, my age. It isn't really a problem per se, it's just that it's....yeah it's a problem. The little wrinkles, also hard earned. The creases. It all gives me away. I still get carded! Never mind that it is in the strictest "we card everyone" establishments, I still get carded. I also get called "Mrs. Ryan", and the dreaded "ma'am". Um, that's "miss" to you buddy!

So what is wrong, exactly, with looking one's age? Is there some sort of treatment I might or might not get if people know my true age? Would nice young men help me across the street with my grocery cart on wheels? Do I need more cats? Should I start wearing lilac perfume?

Well, apparently the gray hair comes with a new angst.

"Life begins at 40 -- but so do fallen arches, rheumatism, faulty eyesight, and the tendency to tell a story to the same person, three or four times." ~ William Feather ~

However-

"If wrinkles must be written upon our brows, let them not be written upon the heart. The spirit should never grow old." ~ James A. Garfield ~

And in the end-

“Age is a matter of feeling, not of years.” ~ George William Curtis ~