Forever young

People always say ‘Appearance is deceptive.’ ‘True beauty is from the inner side.’ But as a woman in my 40’s I have to say ‘Youth is like fashion. Both fade quickly.’ ‘Wisdom didn’t grow with age.Wrinkle did.’ It’s a fact of life. Even I don’t like it but I can’t avoid it so I accept it and I seldom complain about it. Until that day an unexpected situation happened.

 It’s about me and my husband. My husband is 3 years older than I. He is not tall. He is not handsome ether. But he looks much younger than he should be. One day we were going out, in front of the elevator we met one of our neighbors. After a polite greeting, she told me suddenly ‘I didn’t recognize your husband just now. At my first glance I thought he was your son.’ What? Did she say ‘your son’? ‘Do I have any hearing problem?’ It’s a joke. It’s silly. I told myself but when I looked into her eyes I knew it was not a joke. My heart was broken by what she said. Don’t you think she is really lack of social grace? I was so angry and humiliated. While I heard my husband said ‘First glance can be wrong, you can take your second glance then you will see my daughter standing here.’ then he held my hand. I guess He relieved the tension intelligently but the damage is already made here deeply.

So let’s face the reality. That is when some one told you ‘Hey you look so young.’ It’s a pleasure no doubt. But when someone told you ‘Hey your husband looks so young.’ It’s a pressure definitely. How can I blame my husband for such a reason?

 Nevertheless I subconsciously play trick on my husband. When he asked me which glasses is better for him. Looking good or bad is definitely not my concern. My only consideration is which one could make him look old. So does the clothes. I always choose the old fashion colors and prints for him. I ignored the grey hair on his head purposely and wish he got more. Fortunately he never questioned me.

On the other hand I set totally different standards for myself. I raise the budge to upgrade my cosmetics, to buy more clothes, to go to the beauty salon from time to time. I even try so hard to loose a few kilograms.   

You may ask ‘Does it work after so much I have done?’ Well, it’s better than nothing. But it didn’t change anything after all.  

Then a turning point came over me. I met a group of friends. They brought me to a fantastic world. I joined the reading club that made me feel like a student again. I joined the chorus that made my rusty voice shining again. I join the toastmaster club that made everything meaningful again. I seemed to find the spring of anti-ageing. I am young and lively now. But this changing is certainly not because of the CHANNEL dress I have, the GUCCI bag I bought or the PRADA shoes I wore. Expensive cosmetics may change my face temporarily but it won’t last forever. I ask myself ‘what I truly and really want, superficial young or forever young?’ Eventually I realize that age is not the enemy. Looks is just the reflection of heart.  Only a young heart can create incredible magic power. Forever Young is not impossible. It does exist in your mind, your heart and your soul.

Soon I proved the theory. As you know my son is 18 years old. Once we got across his classmate on the street. He asked my son surprisingly ‘Did your man marry your dad at 17?’ Believe it or not he thought I was only 35.    

Now I can say it loudly and proudly that I am a woman in my 40’s. I am young in spirit. As for my poor husband, congratulations, he would never ever have to wear old fashion clothes any more.