I am closing in on my late 50’s. All of a sudden there really are wrinkles. My long glorious blonde hair has to be dyed to hide gray roots. My body is worked out for 1 hour a day and it is not enough. My arms are looking old so I am wearing sleeves. My feet are happier in lower heels. I wear glasses to read. It’s brutal. And I have a good tailor, hairdresser, trainer, masseuse, and makeup artist available. Still, I look old and it happened so fast. I was blindsided. We, the women of my generation, spend an inordinate amount of time doing battle. And it’s not to look younger, it’s just to hold the battle at the line and not go further into that matronly look.

Before I’d slip into slacks and a sweater. Now I have to add earrings and a necklace – all camouflage to keep the eye away from the wrinkles. I went to a wonderful exhibit in D.C. called Women. It was by Annie Leibovitz. The women I was most charmed by were those whose wrinkles were still there, whose hair was the color nature chose, and who were not manicured to within an inch of their lives. Those are my role models but it takes bravery to be the one who does not have a facelift, who lets the gray come in.

I want to grow old gracefully – but oh I love my blonde blonde hair.

By Tina