I spent all day at a Continuing Education class. I arrived 10 minutes
late and I was told my class moved to room 107. So I meandered through
the maze of hallways and finally found the classroom. I sat down next to
my Dad . He told me at the break that everyone went to the wrong class
and if it hadn't been for that attractive woman over there he would have
stayed in the wrong class. After the break I looked over to my right
where she was sitting. She really was a beautiful woman. But what was so
astonishing is that she was probably in her 50's. Now this is a woman
that you would have turned around and taken notice of, and that men
would have been drawn to, she was that good looking. It is an oxymoron,
considering the kind of beauty standards we have in our culture. Namely
that old and beautiful do not go together. I still think it is probably
a lot harder for a woman to grow older than it is for a man. Think about
it. A man's lines and wrinkles just seem to add to an attractive older
man's ruggedness. There are procedures women may choose as an option to
delay the inevitable: becoming invisible. I had to laugh, the other day
when a friend of mine and I were talking about implants. What would some
of these women look like at 70? Everything falling down and
deteriorating except for their breasts, sticking out firm and supple as
though they were 20.........is that something we are going to see in the
next 20- 30-40 years?......is that weird or what? I pulled out a couple
of grey hairs and my Mom was horrified that I would pull out hair. I am
the only one I know that does not color my hair. I am not going to do it
until my hair actually does turn grey. I like my hair color. Most people
I know in their 20's 30's and 40's all color their hair. I seem to be a
dinosaur. My friend told me to 'get with it girl'. Growing old
gracefully will probably be difficult for a lot of us. I try to imagine
how a Victoria's Secret model would react in about 30 years from now.
Would she look at old pictures of herself and stare in the mirror and
sob? It's easy to say you won't have a problem with age if you never
have really been there. If there is something else you can look forward
to, and to arrange your life to be fulfilling in other ways,perhaps the
getting older part will not mean so much. I for one, hope to have most
of my brain cells intact so that I can read, and carry on interesting
discourse with friends and still see all the wonder that is around me.
There are some women, well known, who for the most part made their lives
rewarding and meaningful and may not have had a problem with growing old
gracefully. Most of the following women made some kind of contribution
besides being so ethereally beautiful: 1.Grace Kelly 2. Audrey Hepburn
3. Hedy Lamarr 4.Vivian Leigh(The first time I saw Gone with the Wind I
wanted to look like her) 5.Elizabeth Taylor 6. Julie Christie The rest
of these women I think are also beautiful: ( not in any specific order)
1. Charlize Theron 2. Madeleine Stowe 4. Kim Basinger 5.Ashley Judd 6.
Nicole Kidman 7. Daniella(Victoria's Secret) 8. Audrey Tatou(Amelie) 9.
Cameron Diaz 10. Halle Berry 11. Gail Russell(40's Star) 12. Natalie
Wood 13. Selma Hayak 14. Elizabeth Hurley(Luigi Likes her) 15. Isabelle
Adjani There has to be a Guy's Column too!---These are my favorites:(no
specific order either) 1. Johnny Depp 2. Michael Schoeffling 3. Harrison
Ford(circa 80's) 4. Antonio Banderas 5.Liam Neeson 6. Sean Connery(James
Bond) 7.AL PACINO!(Godfather and his early movies --but still like him)
8.Guy Madison(Awesome! saw his picture in a Book of old male movie stars
in Barnes & Noble) 9. Burt Lancaster(young) 10.Clark Gable(young)
11.Gregory Peck(especially BIg Country--one of my favorite Westerns)
12.Jeff Fahey(never made it big--Lawn Mower Man) 13. Pierce Brosnan 14.
Jeff Bridges 15. Denzel Washington.......... and of course 16. Luigi
Mascarpone Beauty is in the eye of the beholder , as I recall ,so most
of you, I'm sure have your own lists. Peach