Mirror Image

I was looking at pictures recently and thinking about wear and tear. I have been an average, attractive woman most of my life, but I tended my looks because I believed it would make me important and valuable to the man I loved.

When you're young, it's easy to do. With lots of energy and a ready smile, youth naturally showcases high cheekbones and tapered hips. I've loved the process of aging, it's made us all so much more interesting! I didn't ever grieve for my 20s or 30s or 40s because I always felt I gained more than I lost.

Recently, though, I've been discouraged at the overweight, menopause me I see in the mirror. I'm shocked, really, by how amazingly superficial it is to say to myself, that CAN'T be ME, but I do.

The ME I know springs into the day with enthusiasm and health, a young and vibrant and capable ME! And then the mirror reminds me, once again, that no matter how I feel the shell is showing wear.

Holding hands and watching TV, I look into his face and see the love reflected there and have a hunch he has come to know the ME I am inside. Being loved that way makes the rest gratefully easier to bear.