Skip to main content

Wrinkles and Babies

My husband looked at me yesterday from his easy chair and said, “You have wrinkles under your chin.”
“What?” I said. Did I hear the man right? Did he say I had wrinkles under my chin?
Surely not. No man in his right mind would speak those words to his wife. And most assuredly mine would not because number one he wants to live and number two he loves me too much to say something that would hurt my feelings. 
I asked him to repeat his comment.
OKAY. I heard him right. I jetted to the bathroom where the mirror confirmed there were wrinkles under my chin.
How had I missed them? 
Had I been so busy worrying about the wrinkles on my face I’d completely forgotten my neck? After all it holds up my head - one would think I would have noticed it.
I was good to my neck. I smoothed wrinkle cream on it when I did my face. I used a scrub, a mask, expensive creams. And still it lets me down.

All I can think about is my neck. 
Of course I’m not speaking to my husband who has assured me since yesterday that he hadn’t meant I actually had wrinkles on my neck. Then he changed his tune and said he loves the way I look. HIs ultimate statement was he loves the wrinkles on my neck. And the hole gets deeper.
My neck is my primary concern now. It’s as if my face has been erased from my head. When I look in the mirror all I see is my neck. I’m thinking of draping the mirrors in black.
I wonder why we women care so much about our faces and necks. I suppose because  they are at the front and center, the most apparent, what people see first when we walk into a room.
I suppose I’ll continue to slather on wrinkle creams. But I’m also going to work on not caring so much about the aging process.
I’ve thought of the one cure for the aging blues that doesn’t come in a cream or a lotion. It comes in the form of a simple word, grandchildren.
The four younger ones are coming soon from out of town to visit for a week.  All thoughts of aging will be erased from my brain when I hear their voices at the door.
When their mom told me the littlest one has been packing his suitcase for a week  in anticipation of his visit here in the country with us, I was thrilled.

I smile broadly stretching those wrinkles as far as they will go and my heart sings.
Wrinkles? Who cares? I have my babies!
I LOVE HEARING FROM YOU.  THANKS FOR COMMENTS!!!






Comments

  1. UnknownJuly 23, 2013 at 12:36 PM

    Love the post, Barb. Wrinkles? LOL Never noticed wrinkles on you. Funny post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anne GallagherJuly 24, 2013 at 9:15 AM

    Lucky you! I wish there was a magic cure (grandbabies)like that to erase the wrinkles from my chest. None on the neck and the eyes have been slathered liberally for years, but I find right on the top of my chest, valleys, I tell you very deep crevices that nothing will fill.

    have a great week with your kids!

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousJuly 24, 2013 at 9:22 AM

    I'm with you. I can't believe your husband said that. Husbands should know better. I have wrinkles, too, but alas no grandbabies to make up for them. I've been putting Oil of Olay on my face and neck since before I was married - I think I should have been putting it on my hands,too. I'm out working in the sun so much, my hands show my age more than any other part of me.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Deb ShuckaAugust 8, 2013 at 4:32 PM

    Adorable kids! As for your husband, I think he needs to woo you back with whatever luxury makes you happy. And maybe you need to shop for turtlenecks? I actually discovered my own neck wrinkles on my own. Another reason to be grateful for the diminishing eyesight that comes with aging.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Revolutionary New Diet...

Recently I went on a diet. Like most diets this one was scheduled around a major life event. My daughter's wedding. There would be no shopping for a mother-of-the-bride dress until the pounds came off. Typically I go on a diet on Monday and by Wednesday I've folded beneath the weight of a German chocolate cake. I've been hijacked by as little as a stale pink sugar wafer discovered in the dark recesses of the bread drawer. But this time things were going to be different. I could tell as I went to get the mail and discovered the first crocus of the season. Life was looking up. Even though an icy rain began to fall, my spirits weren't dampened. Not even when huge drops pelted me on the head and I had to dash inside. My latest plan would revolutionize dieting. If it worked for me it would work for the world. I smelled a book deal. I could see myself all made-over and liposuctioned sitting between Oprah and Dr. Oz. It was full speed ahead. Gone were those complex menus...
23 comments
Read more

Building a story vs building a house

My latest book! Dear Writer:  Writing a story is somewhat similar to building a house. Or not! Remember this: when we give a piece of our story to someone to read - we expect them to see the whole. It's like building a house and offering a single piece of lumber to another builder. “Here, see the house I'm building.” SOME CAN SEE IT AND SOME CAN’T. Here's the thing: MOST CAN'T. This step is as necessary to me as breathing.  I need to give you single boards as I create them. AND I expect you to be a visionary and say, “Why yes. I see.”   I need you to see how special the piece of lumber is that I'm using and to see that eventually I'll add more pieces to make the whole.  Choose people to read your work who like the kind of stories you write.  There are as many kinds of stories as there are houses to live in. If you give a brick ranch to someone who only appreciates a cape cod then he'll have a hard time fitting hims...
7 comments
Read more

MY HIGH SCHOOL EXPERIENCE...

Wednesday, March 16, 2011 High School - Poca High School, Putnam County, WV What year was it? Fall 1960 - Spring 1963 What were your favorite bands, or singers? Sam Cook, Chubby Checker, Conway Twitty (It's only make believe), Johnny Rodriquez. Meatloaf. ELvis. What was your favorite outfit? Straight skirts, blouses, cardigans or jackets, little heels. Other Outfits? Jeans and a white Dr. Ben Casey shirt. What was up with your hair? Everything. I put peroxide on it. Lemon juice, thinking it needed to be lighter. I cut it, styled it, put it in a pony tail or a french twist. Hair was the most important thing in my life in high school. And hair spray, the stiffer the better. Who were your best friends? Patti Jones, Karen Mattox, and Susie Bailey all thru elem school. Then added on Donna Dailey, Sharon "Mouse" Hackett and Janice Wick and many others. Also Bonnie Kerwood who was older than me and lived near me so we hung out listening to records after schoo...
21 comments
Read more