I remember, as if it were yesterday; our grandmother saying how cruel life was. "I just feel like l'm 18, until I look in the mirror and see this old old woman staring back." The tears would roll down her cheeks and she'd whisper: "I make a point of not looking into mirrors any more." Way back then, with the world at our feet, we just saw the old woman, but five decades later, we understand what she was talking about.
Recently, (forty one days ago to be exact), we turned the big SIX O!!! A milestone we've celebrated with gusto, as we're the first women in our immediate family to have made it!! So we've strung it out. We've wined, dined, lunched, partied, boogied and coffee-ed for days. Our Facebook friends must have been sick of us!! Photos were posted/tagged and shared continuously for at least a week.
They say that 60's the new 40. Maybe that's true in mind-set, but I know for sure that if we looked like this at 40 we'd have been pretty disappointed!! Physically, though, as 60 year olds, it's noticeable that more care is needed walking downstairs or jumping off stools in high heels. The eyesight isn't what it used to be and a whole new conversation around glasses suddenly opens up as we identify other 'squinters' or assist 'forgotten glasses' sufferers by reading price tags.
Unlike our grandmother, the x5 magnified mirror is an essential accessory, almost a pet really. It allows us to pluck our eyebrows, upper lip, nose and under chin hair (another 60s development!!!) and check that our makeup isn't smudged, blotched or looking like we've slept in it. Unlike our grandmother, we are not afraid of what we see in our x5 magnified mirror. It enhances our lives at sixty, giving us the confidence to walk out the door feeling well-groomed and hair-tamed.
Yes grandma we do understand - we've inherited your youthful mind-set, which hasn't, over the years, wrinkled, scarred or been covered with age spots, but we've pushed the boundaries more than women of your era, because we can.