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San Diego Woman

THE VALUE OF AGING 31

By Carol Haines

The new roles that we are hesitantly stepping into like
We will all get old. There is no stopping time. No matter
how often you go under the plastic surgeon’s knife, you grandma, or family matriarch, may be the greatest perfor-
will still get old. Our society tends to glamorize youth and mances of our lives. Relationships with our teenagers can
has a way of making older women feel inconsequential. be strained to say the least, but when they seek you out
It’s a trap we all fall victim to; buying that expensive cream for advice or encouragement, you feel a sense of awaken-
or the latest makeup, hoping it will keep us young. ing. You realize that you are a necessary part of society,
even as an older woman.
Women waste countless hours and too much money
hoping to appear younger than they are. But we can’t turn Who cheers our young people on as they meet new
back the clock, and frankly, I don’t think we really want to. challenges and who builds them up when they fall? Who
My face tells the story of my life. The stress, the laughter, comforts and supports our elderly as they become weak
the tears, the love, both given and received, is all written and frail? Who binds our families together providing a
there. I cherish every chapter of that story because it has safe, welcoming home? We, mature women, do all these
made me who I am. I wouldn’t erase a minute of it. So things, naturally and lovingly. And where would this world
what is wrong with looking like we have lived full, com- be without us?
plex, enlightened lives? We are reservoirs of experience,
wisdom, and comfort for the younger generation, and are
more valued than we realize.

November/December 2010