My mom never said she felt old well into her 80s. She refused to go to senior activities because she “wasn’t like those old people.” She was energetic, working full time as a waitress at Newport Creamery until the age of 75, going Class 5 white water rafting in Costa Rica with my daughter, Dinora, when she was 83 years old, and out-dancing everyone at weddings with an energy that never seemed to dim. She never seemed to age, which, genetically, I thought would be my future. Alas, such is not so.

Knowing that her hair turned gray when she was in her 40s, the gray hairs didn’t bother me. In fact, it is kind of fun, being able to dye my hair any color I want, trying to find the color that best suits my face. (Despite my daughter’s urging, I have not tried pink or purple.)

My parents were very frugal and never “wasted” money on sunscreen. In fact, when I had a sunburn, which was often, my mom told me I looked “healthy” with “some color in my face”. Little did either of us know at the time that as I aged, my skin would become prematurely wrinkled and mottled with large freckles and brown spots, what we now know are signs of sun damage.

Indigestion has come upon me, and spicy foods or eating too much no longer agree with me. I find myself taking Tums, just like my dad did when he was old. And I won’t even mention the rest of my digestive tract because I always used to laugh when my grandparents would talk in detail about whether they “went” every morning.

When I purchased a new cell phone, I brought it back to the store because there was something wrong with it. Caller’s voices were like whispers and they were mumbling, and I could not understand anything they said. Mortified to learn it was my hearing, a different phone with an amplifier was given to me. It made sense, though. I had always wondered why the little Angel with chimes hanging from the mirror in my car never seemed to make any noise…it was because the pitch of the chimes was too high for me to hear.

Of course, glasses are needed for reading, but that is a trait shared with everyone my age. Nothing a pair of 1.5X glasses from Job Lot can’t solve. I have also been careful to wear sunglasses so as not to get crow’s feet from squinting. Why, then, do I still have crow’s feet? Researching it on line, it was a relief to learn that they are “laugh lines.” Yes, yes, I have done a lot of laughing in my years!

As others my age report, sometimes I walk into a room and forget what I was seeking. People’s names often escape me, and our connections elude me. Birthdays are written on the calendar as the dates often fly by without a thought otherwise.

Having recently had knee surgery, I now find myself hobbling hunched over with a cane. This is a sobering situation that seems to confirm that I am old.

But WAIT…the knee will heal and the cane will be forgotten in another month or so. A hearing aid will technically restore my hearing. When the brown spots and wrinkles on my skin embarrass me, I will remember instead the awesome childhood I had, sunburns and all. Spicy foods were never my favorite anyway, so a blander diet will be perfect. Having had a fun life with lots of laughs, I appreciate every single one of my laugh lines. Just thinking about it all, I’m feeling younger now. Time to try the pink hair!