I Am Old

If you are a word nerd, you can geek out on the etymology of old. I'm a wordie, but I have been turned from the use of that word for a couple of decades. By people who dislike the word. Who work hard to find some other to describe where in the chronology of a life they are. I recently had to send a bio and a picture for an article I'd written. My picture that is everywhere I am on the internet is not recent. My hair is white, but it's from my preferred side. Since 2008 I've used an illustration, lengthened my hair in 2013. Added a cape. I had my face cut in half to get cancer out of my then-life in 1997 and, while I had excellent surgeons, the results were inevitable over time. I'd do it again to have cancer in a jar. But I stay away from that side in photos. Which makes no sense. I did not have the extraordinary beauty of my mother - or my father either - as my brother-in-law is unabashed about saying about all of my sisters, including his wife. None of us inherited directly. I'm still working on whether I made my way in the work world based on looks, but I can call it a draw now. I think more of it was about presence-I'm tall and proud. A longtime friend recently commented on a facebook post that she doesn't look good in hats any more - got old. I wrote back to her that she is still beautiful. Her face has wisdom, laughter, passion. I'll add to that disdain, acceptance, awe. Talking with a good friend recently, I got adamant. We need to stop evaluating who we were in the place of who we are now. Screw that. Envision the sea, slamming wave after wave against a rock wall shore, everywhere on our planet. Now picture the sea's face. Serene or violent depending on weather conditions, the sea is unchanged. The sea goes on. The sea will shovel the shore until the earth stops spinning. It's the sea. Now picture the rock wall's face. Scarred. Undermined. Serene. The rock will change over time, and won't suffer ever about the change. The sea will change. The shore will change. We will change. That's life. What's changed for me in later life is I know what I've accomplished is insignificant in the sea/shore world. I'm okay with that. Do you know who the first woman in the U.S. to sell industrial advertising space was? I do. My face is where my history is written. And I'm proud now of my history. Praise the woman, old and mighty!