Oh Sweet Child...

This morning I was doing some eyebrow maintenance and as I tried to pluck out an errant hair I realized that it wasn't a hair, it was a very fine wrinkle. Which then started..."Every time when I look in the mirror, all these lines on my face getting clearer..." and I thought...How old was Steven Tyler when he sang that? And did he write it? How old was he when he wrote it? He had to have been young since I remember the song from my teen years so...

He was 25. Twenty five. He actually wrote the music for it at 17, but the song was released when he was 25. Now granted, he wasn't half of the Toxic Twins for nothing, but still. He had no lines on his face at 25. Or no lines to speak of. Or no lines that weren't residue lines if you know what I'm saying...

Which then as I was thinking of how old he was when he sang that I thought of the line, "I wish I was as fat now as I was the first time I thought I was fat." Which of course was not fat at all. But we, women especially, think we are fat at a very young age, and a very light weight.

When Brent and I got married the photographer took a picture of me putting on the garter and said, "You are going to look back at this photo and wish your thighs were this thin again." At the time I thought she was nuts. I have thick thighs. No way would I ever think they were thin. Of course on our wedding day I weighed the lightest I've ever been as an adult. Three months of sickness will do that to you. And yes, if I see that picture now I think...how did that leg even hold me up? (I wish I was a fat now as I was the first time I thought I was fat)

Old and fat. We are programmed to think we are old and fat. Of course that's by design so they can sell us products to make us look young and thin. I have no idea if Steven Tyler now looks in the mirror and thinks...."Shit...I had no lines back then." and then smears on some La Mer and goes on about his day but I could imagine it.

I also know that I look younger than people think I should look. I've written before about how "young for my age" is nonsense. Since I am my age and this is how I look I look completely like my age. But what people expect someone my age to look like is somehow different. (Advertising again, how are they going to sell you products to look younger if being older doesn't look all that bad?) I also know that I will continue to look younger than people expect for a long time, unless something healthwise comes up probably for the rest of my life. My mother used to get a giant kick out of people being at least a decade off on her age and since I look like my mother...

Brent also looks younger than people expect. And that combination means Katie looks younger. We are all in that bucket. And all of us can tell you that no, we look older than what you are saying. Katie got some of my premature gray hair, it started early but not often sort of thing. I've had some gray since high school. She's got some gray now. But since my hair is red and hers is blue it's not as easy to point out. Brent's first reaction to most photos is to point out how gray his beard is getting. He has no gray hair otherwise. He's just getting remarkably blonder as he ages. (That's a joke, he lightens his hair back to the blond he was a teenager, no shade, he is very open about coloring his hair)

So advertising says we all are old and fat and they can fix us. Our friends says we all look fabulous and we should share our secrets. So who are we listening to?

Well La Mer is $100 for the .5 ounce jar so I'm leaning towards my friends...

Just kidding. I mean, I know how much a half ounce of La Mer costs so...

Remind me of this in ten years when I wish I looked as young and thin then as I do now. Or maybe I'll look even better.

For my age.