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So many people fight aging in a physical way like no generation before has had the opportunity or maybe the will to do. Let's face it, nobody wants to look in the mirror and see that the years have gone by and the physical beauty of youth is lost.
There's another beauty of youth that is overlooked so much because it's not as easy to see. It's real, just goes by less noticed. It's the beauty of the young mind or the young spirit. Young people like to play. You never need to remind a young person to play more computer games, or skateboard more, or joke around more. You remind them to work: do homework, hang up their clothes, walk the dog.
As you grow up and have kids, and jobs and bills, it's no wonder people forget how to play. They don't have the time to. Many people seem to lose the ability to chill out, relax, and enjoy. There's truth to the adage about all work and no play... It's like they grow up, and the life and spirit gets sucked out of them somehow in the process.
When I was younger there were two older people (like my age now) that were so different from the rest of the grown-ups I knew. One was my Aunt Frances, a mother of six children, married to the small town grocer. Aunt Frances never worried about money and the fact she didn't have much, or worry about anything at all as far as I could tell. She was unflappable. She knew and loved just about everybody in her town of 10,000 people. She giggled at any of the jokes her kids told her but could never tell a joke without messing up the punch line — then she'd laugh that she messed up the punch line.
Nancy Carson was the mother of an old boyfriend and she was just incredibly lovely — interested in everything in the world, positive about hearing about anything anybody else had going on in their lives, and busy volunteering at many different charities. She was well off but completely unpretentious and liked people from all walks of life. Nancy saw beauty in so much that others took for granted. When I was in my 20's she made me wish I was in my 50's so I could be like her.
Both women seemed ageless to me - in spite of their lack of cosmetic surgery or overt attention to physical aging. It wasn't that they played like they were children, but they found joy and stimulation in hobbies or pursuits and never forgot to enjoy life. They had a lift to them — an interest in other people — they weren't perfect people but they were interesting and fun to be around. And they were both unforgettable.
It's funny that looking back - it never dawned on me that people were old or young because of a wrinkle free forehead. It was their spirit that was young.
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