![]() I don't like the way my iPad screen magnifies my face when I face-time with my sister. Every little wrinkle and brown spot shows up in HD quality. I remember the first time I discovered wrinkles on my face. I was not even 30 and I was casually looking in a mirror. There it was, the first faint hint of puppet lines on the sides of my mouth. I panicked at the thought that my previously flawless complexion was flawed. How could this happen? Now I WISH I had those puppet lines. The ones I have at this age are less faint, and more Howdy Doody. I really shouldn’t complain. I have been blessed with great skin. I still don’t have an overwhelming number of wrinkles. I definitely inherited my skin from my Dad. He always looked 20 years younger than he really was. Still, the wrinkles are there, lurking on my saggy neck and threatening to get deeper on my forehead and the corners of my eyes. I have found that smiling is a good way of minimizing the look of puppet lines. It emphasizes the “happy face” as opposed to the “cranky face” that appears even if I’m not feeling cranky. ![]() My hands are showing signs of wear too. I love my hands, but now they are covered with “crepey” skin, and brown spots, and moles. I do feel happy that they still perform well. Unlike the rest of my body, my hands are very coordinated. I can do all kinds of intricate manuvers with no problem, like knitting, threading a needle, painting, typing, using a screwdriver, and picking cabbage worms off of the broccoli plants. They are strong too because I use them a lot. My twin sister and I compare wrinkles along with other signs of aging. We are not identical, so we don’t have exactly the same changes happening. I noticed my neck is wrinklier than hers. She came up with a unique idea for dealing with the wrinkle issue when we were talking about going to our next high school reunion. She calls it a “Senior Burka.” It’s modeled after the traditional burka with your eyes being the only visible part of your body. Instead of drab black it could come in an array of fun patterns and designs. I envision mine in a cat print. When you want to go out without feeling burdened by the self-consciousness of looking older than you used to, you simply throw it on over your clothes. Not only are your wrinkles shielded from public view, any "little old lady with cats" fashion faux pas in your outfit are neatly hidden under an attractive and colorful tent. It has the additional advantage of making you stand out in a crowd, at least until it becomes wildly popular with more seniors. We thought we might create a new fashion trend at our reunion. I try to take care of my skin. I use an exfoliant and a moisturizer with sunscreen. I cannot stop the march of time, however. I have learned to live with most of the changes of aging by staying in the moment and not worrying too much about the future. At least when it comes to wrinkles, it’s not going to get any better than this.
1 Comment
Linda Pace
6/9/2015 07:26:00 am
Think photographs on Senior Burkas may be attractive!
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Leslie Masona woman in search of her post-retirement future Guess what! By subscribing, you get notices about the latest Little Old Lady with Cats posts sent to your mailbox!
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(from an entry posted on 5/1/2015) “I definitely fit some of the characteristics of a little old lady with cats: Retired - check, Single - check, Like to knit - check, Have cats - check. . .I do not want to get stuck in my Little Old Lady persona, however. In fact, this blog is a risk taking experiment in exploring and redefining what I want my retired life to look like.” Categories
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