I am 35. But that's not the terrifying part.
I have been blessed, my whole life, by having "young" parents. It's not that my parents are any younger than my friends parents. In fact, my parents are actually older than many of my friends' parents. And when I say "young" I am not necessarily referring to age.
See, my parents look FANTASTIC for being almost mid-60's (sorry to out your secret, mom!). But it's true. With youthful appearances and a busy life, my mom and dad have remained young at heart. And because of that, I take certain youthful things for granted.
When I think about aging, I use my Dad as my benchmark. There are so many physical similarities between the two of us that I pretty much know how old I will be when a physical attribute starts to fall apart. The way I see it, I won't have to worry about gray hair for another 25 years or so.
WRONG. I have found the stray gray from time to time, and have often though the hair was gray when in reality is was just blond. Until today. Remember when I colored my hair darker? I like it. A lot. And that was several months ago. It should have washed out by now, so my stylist says this color is really close to my natural color, and I LOVE it. But I couldn't help but notice that the darker hair made my eyebrows look lighter.
Today, I was putting a little makeup on and noticed that not only do my eyebrows look even lighter than I remember, but they also seem to be shiny in places. And the shine wasn't makeup or lotion. It was gray. GRAY EYEBROWS PEOPLE!!! Can you believe it? I have some gray eyebrows.
Sigh. So, while I continue to deny that I am in my mid-thirties, I will now embrace that, perhaps, just maybe, I inherited my dad's amazing curls but not the longevity of being brunette.
I am, after all, 35.
Jenna, gray is treatable. Being prematurely old at heart and action usually isn't. So, go with the young at heart genes that you got from both of your terrific parents. Can't wait to see you next week.
ReplyDeleteBoth your dad and I have been lucky to live this long with not-too-much gray. Grandma Peg has no idea what color her "real" hair is and hasn't known for 75 years. You just do what makes you feel good and you can color your eye brows, just don't pull them out.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice words in this blog.
Better than gray...well...you know! :)
ReplyDeleteI was very gray by 35 so you have been blessed. It took me years to embrace the gray and just live with it. It helped me to think of my "gray" as "silver". Mind over matter than, now it doesn't matter! That is a benefit of actually being 60+.
ReplyDeleteLisa's comment made me laugh! You girls!
Sue is so correct, prematurely old at heart is not easily treatable. You have what it takes to stay young at heart, and your parents are perfect role models.