Today a repair man came to the house and when he was leaving he called me Ma’am. He was being polite and you may not think anything of it but it makes me feel old. On my birthday this year the checker at the grocery store said, “You don’t look a day older than 29.” And maybe he thought he was being kind but all that said to me is “I can tell you’re not 29 anymore and you’re clearly in your 30’s.” Who cares right?! But our culture does. I do most the time. I want to stay young and youthful looking forever. Then I remind myself, “remember last year when that young man came to the door and he asked me if my mom was home? Ya, that was nice.”
But really, I want to age with grace and thankfulness. I know too many people who are fighting for their lives to survive cancer or who have lost their lives at much too young of an age. I should wake up each day and thank God that I’m a day older. I’m blessed to be alive one more day and pray that I live to be old. And I have to say, I much prefer the person I am now than the one I was 10 years ago. I’m wiser and have a few more rough edges worn off. If we allow God to, we only become better with age. So I’m gonna embrace it. Go ahead, call me ma’am.
And today when all those young college students arrive and they remind me how old I am and they look to me like a mother figure I’m going to remind myself of all that I just said. But don’t be fooled my friends, I’m not going to stop dying my hair. I’m not ready to embrace the fact that I’m 75% gray. That’s right, 75% gray. It just means I’m wise and also that hair dye is a God send.