Getting older

   
                                                          Aging Gracefully

  All my life I was told 'beauty is only skin deep' and in one sense it is. In another the loss of youth is not always a pleasant process for us 'old ladies'. After I had my cataract surgery, the old lady in the bathroom mirror appeared older than before the surgery.  I have joked about it, but I assure you it was not funny!  It was a shock to realize that I really looked like that; wrinkles, sagging eye lids and, horrors, the turkey wattle instead of  one chin and smooth throat.  Knowing that there really wasn't anything I could do about it, short of major plastic which I couldn't afford and seeing how it is done wouldn't do even if I did have the money.

        Trying to come to terms with my appearance was a struggle, feeling how unfair it was to have my looks not gibe with my inner self.  I read somewhere that an 18 year old girl still lives in every female regardless of her age and I resented that fact that the world viewed me as 'old' when I didn't feel old.

         Those of you have read The Velveteen Rabbit may remember the following quote which had an astonishing effect on me and my struggle with the march of time. The following quote from The Velveteen Rabbit helped me to realize that becoming 'real' is not unlike growing older;

               
               "     It doesn't happen all at once. You become. It takes a

          long time. That's why it doesn't happen to people who break

          easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept.

          Generally by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been

           loved off, and your eyes drop out, and you get loose in the joints

           and are very shabby.

                     But these things don't matter at all, because you are Real.

           You can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

                   

     So all you young lovelies out there, the next time you see an old person, keep in mind that you won't always be young, or vital, or energetic and think the world is your oyster. Regardless of age, everyone needs love, affection, attention and caring. So be patient with them and think of the wrinkles, gray hair and quaking limbs as battle scars, and remember, now they are Real.