A Woman of a Certain Age

I've always known what I was going to look like as I age; it's been suggested more than once that I may have been the first human clone, that's how much I look like my mother.

I always thought my mother was a handsome woman. That is, she was good looking until she hit 50. Then her face melted. Sort of slid down a little, giving her jowls and eradicating her jawline. But she was Mom, ya' know? So I didn't think too much about it. After all, she was a heavy smoker, heavy drinker, had high blood pressure, weight fluctuations for years, and generally didn't do much to take care of herself. Mom passed a few years back at age 77 with deep smokers lines and three chins.



I expected that my lifetime of healthy eating and exercise would save me from that face (with a Hail Mary that my misspent years smoking would be forgiven.) It was not to be; every day for the past five years I look at myself in the mirror and see Mom. And not the handsome-before-50 Mom, the face-sliding Mom. And though I'm past the magic age of 50, I'm not that much past 50. Seven years ago (looooong before I turned 50) when I married I looked pretty good. Last month we had a formal photo taken and holy sh*t I look old! My husband, who is six years older than I am, is pretty much standing still age-wise. At this rate I'm starting to look like the older of the two of us, and I don't like it, not one little bit. I've been whining about this for long enough, and have decided that it's time to do something about. I'm going to have a mini-lift and get my eyelids fixed. I want back the face I had when I married.



I did all the research and solicited referrals from friends, narrowed it down to a charming, young surgeon in Tampa, and scheduled the procedure for Friday, February 5. I'll post all the before and after photos, and keep a detailed record of what happens. Does it hurt, and how much. What helps, what doesn't. How long before I'm public presentable. You know, all the stuff I wanted to know before I jumped into this with both feet. Stay tuned.