Friday, January 30, 2015

A Wrinkle In Time

 
     It happens one morning when you wake up, glance in the bathroom mirror and realize your face looks like an un-ironed shirt. You wonder---is it from stress? The kids? Too many libations the night before? You vow to get more sleep, take your vitamins and spend a fortune on miracle face creams. If spackle can fill the cracks in a wall, then an expensive wrinkle epoxy ought to do a damn fine job covering the crevices on your face. Unless, of course, your skin looks like a lunar landing strip. The good people at Lancome have yet to invent a facial epoxy that will fill cracks that deep.


     When I was in my mid-thirties, it was no coincidence that I sprouted my first wrinkle around the time my fourth child hit the Terrible Twos. A deep furrow formed across my brow, giving the impression that I was angry all the time. Or constipated. I began slathering my face nightly with rich emollients that promised to erase my worry lines (and the remnants of a youth spent poolside with a rum runner in one hand and a bottle of baby oil in the other). I was terrified that after all those years of sun tanning, I'd end up with a face that resembled a potato left too long in a microwave.

     Once I reached my forties, the deep grooves that bracketed my mouth were evidence of my inability to defy the laws of gravity. They formed parentheses when I smiled, acting as a dam to prevent the tsunami of cheek flesh from falling forward. As much as I tried to conceal the signs that I was, indeed, a middle-aged woman, the wrinkles on my forehead were Mother Nature's way of revealing my true age like the concentric circles inside a California Redwood.


     There were other unavoidable tell-tale signs that I was well past the carefree days of my youth. The so-called "laugh lines" around my eyes were not funny at all once the wrinkles reached my eyebrows and formed tributaries similar to those near the Mississippi river.

     Now that I've accepted the fact that I can no longer disguise my age behind expensive makeup and creams, I realize that facial wrinkles are the least of my problems. There are other parts on my body that the wrinkle cadets have invaded while I've been busy trying to prevent my face from looking like a peach pit. The other day, I noticed several rings around my neck. Four, to be exact. I now have a neck that resembles a Slinky. How have I missed this delicate area during my nightly ritual of slathering creams heavier than margarine on my face?

     And that's not the only section I've overlooked. I've got wrinkles on my hands now, too. The skin has become so thin there that my veins have popped up like the Appalachian Mountain range. There are also deep creases on my elbows and knee caps, for God's sake. My joints look like a wrinkled rhino's butt. "Excuse me, dear lady at the Lancome counter, do you have any rhino butt wrinkle cream in stock?"

     I prefer to think that the lines on my face show character, not the actual stress of aging or too many summers spent on a beach with a silver reflector beneath my chin. Undoubtedly, I'll be picking up a few more wrinkles along the way, but that's okay. These little creases are the merit badge I've earned from years of laughter and a life well lived.

     And no cream can take that away.


52 comments:

  1. Very well said, Marcia:)... "Wrinkles are the merit badges earned- that shows years well-lived; and many more years to go- and grow with smiles." Whatever life brings us- hound or old memories; we should not stop smiling while worrying less! Smile is the best face make-up; I believe:)
    Lovely post!
    epsita.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you Espita! And I love what you have said here---"Smile is the best face make-up." That is PERFECT!

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    2. I love that too!! Smiles light up a room!! My wrinkles are all caused by my children... KIDDING! :) I couldn't resist. ;)

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    3. Thank you, Marcia n Rosey:)
      XOXO
      Epsita
      www.thepositivewindow.com

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  2. http://elmundodeemily.blogspot.com/

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  3. Awe Marcia... this could not be more true... my sisters and I were talking about this a few months ago about how age sneaks up on you but all the fun and laughter is and was worth it... I laughed with you and shook my head in agreement of seeing the same things you did... I am sure my hands are next... lol. I love that one line about asking if they had anything to remove Rhino butt wrinkle cream... let me know if you find any... haha

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    1. Hahahahaha!!! Thanks, Launna! We're in this together, my friend. If I ever find that miracle rhino butt cream, I'll be sure to let you know!"

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  4. I have plenty of my own "merit badges!" I need to keep that in mind as I celebrate another birthday next week!

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  5. I'm with you over here... news wrinkles, cracks, divers and bags keep popping up every day. It's depressing, but I might as well embrace it because it isn't going to change. There are lots of things that are more important!

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  6. I love your take on wrinkles and as I am just starting to see the beginnings of this in my late thirties, you made me feel that much better about it. Thanks Marcia!! ;)

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    1. You have beautiful skin, Janine. I think you will age slowly and gracefully! :)

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  7. Love this! As I approach the end of my 40's I am seeing more lines, but I do my best to remember that they are the signs of a life well lived. Or at least that is what I tell myself! Lol! Love the image of spackling on the makeup, I feel the same way each morning!! Lol!

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    1. Thanks, Kathy! Don't know what I would do without my spackling!

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  8. LOL...rhino butt wrinkle cream. While you're looking for that, ask if they have any spackle to cover the brown spots.

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  10. Hmm . . . my comment didn't appear. I'll say it again. If it shows up twice, it'll be just like when I talk to my kids . . .
    I've always thought of wrinkles as 'life' written in your skin. Wish it didn't have to use such an indelible pen . . .

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  11. Loved this! I can get myself whipped up about the wrinkles and droops multiplying daily as I'm about to turn 49.... but like you said, I've earned them and need to wear them proudly.

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  12. So funny! I need some of that rhino cream myself at this stage of the game!

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  13. The way to ruin a valuable antique is to refinish it. Think of those wrinkles as "Patina."

    Did I just call you an antique? Sorry, that was not my intent.

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    1. I kinda like the idea of my wrinkles as being "Patina." And yes, I am a young-at-heart antique. :)

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  14. This is hilarious! During menopause, many women become self-critical, striving to look like the prepubescent teen models you see in glossy magazines. Instead, at 61, I focus my efforts on my health and wellbeing. And while I have long ago banned horizontal stripes from my closet, and on occasion have looked in shock at the morphing skin on my aging knees, I know that expecting myself to look like I did in my twenties would just be setting myself up for disappointment. It would cheat me out of the joy I deserve. Every day we are alive, we age. Age and time provide us with more opportunities, not less! As we age we have more of a chance to love and be loved. The longer we live, the greater the opportunity to expand our vision of the “possible” and reach out and grab it. I lost my father at a young age. Aging has become something of a four-letter word to women. Ask me what it stands for, though, and I’ll tell you “G-I-F-T!”

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    1. I so agree with you, Ellen, and I LOVE your positive outlook. Every breath we are able to take is a gift!

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  15. So funny Marcia. I remember too many summers spent on a beach with a silver reflector. We took our record covers and lined them with foil.

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    1. OMG that's hilarious!!! I used to have those silver tanning blankets as well. I felt like a naked turkey on a roasting pan whenever I used it, ha-ha!

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  16. I love your self deprecating humor, even though you look beautiful in all of your photographs.

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    1. Thank you, Stephen! Must be all that rhino butt cream…..

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  17. OMG...you are scaring me....can't imagine myself like a microwaved potato or a rhino....but I know, we all have to be there one day. Hope I accept it as gracefully as you :)

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    1. You will----just remember, those wrinkles are most likely there from laughing! :)

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  18. My oh my! How do you get your husband to do those funny faces? He deserves a little something extra tonight.

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    1. He does, doesn't he? Couldn't do this blog without him, I tell ya. And you met him at ERMA, so you KNOW what he's really like, hahaha!!!

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  19. If we have to have the lines, at least we get to have the memories of all the fun we had earning them.

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  20. "...tsunami of cheek flesh..." haha! That's epic! I, too, have a bracketed mouth. I look forever pissed off. And hey, I'm pissed off a lot, but now I can't even hide it. I sit at the mirror and pull my facial skin taut, marveling at how good I could look if I could just use duct tape for that too. And then I let it go, and boing! back to my bulldog jowls. lol

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    1. OMG too funny, Linda! I play that game, too--I pull back my face and think how it takes 10 years off of me.I could use the roll of duct tape right about now….

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  21. My grandmother is 93 and has only a few wrinkles around her eyes and neck, my mum just turned 75 and has only a few wrinkles around her eyes and a little loose skin around her neck, this I believe is because my nan told mum and me when you apply face cream do not stop at the fact you must apply to your neck and your chest otherwise you end up with no wrinkles on your face and a wrinkly neck and chest and when I see women on telly who have no wrinkles on their face but many many on their neck and chest I think of what nan always said.

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    1. Yes! That is soooo true! One of my favorite actresses who used to play on a daytime soap had a gorgeous face…but oh man, when she wore a low-cut blouse, SHE had a neck like a slinky!!

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  22. Marcia, this post was so timely. I was looking in the mirror this morning at wrinkles I didn's realize I had, and trying to pull my face reall tight as if I had a face lift. But I like your philosophy of equating wrinkles to laugh lines!!! Great post!

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    1. Thanks, Lisa! We have to stay positive about this aging process or else we will go insane, ha-ha!

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  23. Ah...wrinkles. Our reward for a life of laughing! I think I get a few more wrinkles every time I read one of your posts :)!

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  24. I'd rather have a face filled with laugh lines than never to have laughed! ;)

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  25. This was great, Marcia. If you ever do find out where Rhino butt cream is sold, let me know :) It's funny how you look in the mirror everyday, but it's on certain ones where we say, "When did that wrinkle get there?" IT happens more often to me now. LOL. Stay beautiful, woman
    <3

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    1. I'm still trying to reconcile with the fact that my neck has become crepey! You, Michele, are GORGEOUS and ageless! XO

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