Age Before Beauty

Even though I only know Nora Ephron from her movies, I was saddened to hear about her recent death, mostly because it reminds me of her appearance on Oprah a few years ago. That day the guests also included Geena Davis and  Diahann Carroll and the topic was aging gracefully.

While the show was funny it was also bittersweet because, as I'm beginning to understand, getting older isn't much fun. And even though these ladies have led extraordinary lives and do exude grace and dignity, their stories about graying hair, sagging necks, menopause and wrinkles are ultimately quite sad. I've said it before and I'll say it here again, God is definitely a man. And I don't think He ever really forgave Eve.

At one point Nora Ephron was talking about the two things that age a woman. One is gray hair, the other is her neck. According to her, coloring your hair (and not the pinkish, blue-ish tinges of our grandmothers) and covering your neck are the easiest ways to shave off some years. If you watched the show, you would notice she is wearing a scarf.

I say all this because for me, this is the year of the neck. Lately I have noticed a dip in my neck, a sag, if you will, that sometimes doesn't move as fast as the rest of my head. As Nora would say, I feel bad about my neck. And my legs. After three kids I have the legs of a middle-aged woman, and occasionally I am reminded of this. Like yesterday when I came downstairs dressed for church and Abby looked me up and down and said, "Seriously? Don't you think that's a little short?"