I have had many looks in my life.
I have been a variety of sizes from fat to thin.
I have had a variety of hair styles from long hair to very short hair and everything in between.
I had curly all over frizzy hair to my naturally straight hair.
Long ago I pigtails and pony tails before graduating to berets, bobby pins and hair bands.
I once would have never gone anywhere without my curling iron, electric rollers and hair spray.
I enjoyed covering the budding gray with hair dye and particularly enjoyed high lights.
One day I discovered the joys of short hair, the wash and go look. I felt a new level of liberation!
Then the pandemic came along. I was never seeing anyone but close family. So I decided to be a little daring and see how much of my hair was really gray.
It turned out I had quite a bit of the natural me left that had not flourished yet as gray. So I gave up the hair dye. Another level of liberation!
I used to wear makeup. What started as a teenage desire to cover up my skin’s hormone surges turned into a creative outlet.
I enjoyed creating different “me”s. I was one of those people who didn’t want to go out the door without my makeup on.
Then after having allergic reactions to various products, I became daring enough to go into the world “face naked.” Again, I felt liberated!
After a childhood of progressive “ coke bottle” glasses, I graduated to contact lens as a teen. I wore those for years and again hid from the world if I had to wear glasses.
Then I developed dry eyes and had to give up the contacts. I was back to glasses until cataract surgery freed me again. I had a blessed reprieve until retinal surgery caused a return to glasses (at least not as thick this time).
I was fortunate to have advanced pretty far into the aging scene before I developed wrinkles. At first I was horrified. This was visible proof of aging.😱
However, over time I have again become liberated to see my wrinkles as “achievement badges.” I earned them and I own them!
Today I looked at pictures Jay took of me with Gideon, our grandson. I realized when I looked at myself, I no longer had the desire to photoshop.
When I looked at me, I just saw a blessed grandma soaking up all The Love I could hold from a precious baby boy.
Maybe that is what life is all about … just giving and receiving Love and letting our face show it as it is.
For now Gideon does not know the history of me. He just sees Grandma and the joy in his face always makes me smile! 😍
