Six Faces

Today, I read an intriguing article called "My Story in Five Faces." The author quoted George Orwell, "At age 50, everyone has the face he deserves."  She'd written it down at age 30 and carried it in her wallet to remind her,or warn her, as she lived her life.
So, I decided that I'd try it, too. Six faces of mine through the years. I picked six because I'm almost ten years past fifty.

Age: 2

Yes, I am sitting on the potty. Yes, I am smiling cheerfully--probably at one of my big sisters who is tasked with getting me to smile so Mama can take my photo. I was an adorable baby--round face, big blue eyes, fluffy blonde hair. Apparently I was also compliant and easy-going. Good thing, because at age two, I already had a new baby sister...born when I was just 15 months old. So, of course my mom was eager for me to be potty-trained. Washing cloth diapers for two children, and then hanging the diapers out on the line to dry, was truly a chore that would have motivated me to get that two year old potty-trained too.

AGE: 11

Back in the Olden Days, there wasn't really any way to preview your school pictures. So, when the packages came back to the school, what you see is what you get. And they didn't do picture retakes, either. So when my fifth grade pictures were delivered, and I saw that when the photographer's funny joke had made me laugh pretty hard...and close my eyes...I was really embarrassed. But--it was a moment in time. My mom bought them anyway. Maybe I was really just hiding from my cheesy hairdo. It was the same hairdo I had until I was a freshman in high school, when I finally decided to do my hair my own way from that moment on. That little bit of personal expression took a long time, huh?

Age: 21

This is just before, or just after, we were married. I forget. We'd gone for a motorcycle ride to a coffeeshop in downtown San Diego. It was before San Diego was gentrified and this was just a place where a person could sit at the counter and have a BLT and gaze at the human parade on the sidewalk. Look how carefree and unencumbered that face is...

Age: 29

I am in labor in this photo. Our fourth child was born about 4 hours after this photo was taken. Do I seem calm? I probably was. We were about to phone the midwife and tell her to come over because it had started. We had the first one in the Naval Hospital, then the other four at home. It was much more serene. If you look closely, you'll see the furrow in the middle of my forehead. I said that my labors were more serene at home, but not less painful. I still don't have many wrinkles, but I do have the dark circles. Our oldest child was still only five years old. He was in Kindergarten, and would turn six in three more months. But, yes, I was a busy mother, and had stayed up late getting things ready for the Big Event I knew was coming with the morning.

Age: 41

Yes, that is me graduating from college.  It was only twenty-three years after I graduated from high school. There are more wrinkles and, just a couple of years later, the gray hair really started to come on strong. But I am feeling as cheerful as I look in this photo. I mean: hey! College! I'd actually done it! I wasn't finished, because in California there were two more years of school before they awarded  the teaching certificate. But I was excited to have accomplished this milestone. The next week, my oldest son graduated from high school, and I knew that the expensive years were only just beginning. I was pleased to be in a position to help with the children's tuitions/missions/weddings that we were anticipating.

Age 58

It's grandma time! I'm gray, I'm wrinkled, I'm chubby. I'm having a blast. You can't see the wrinkles too much here because I'm laughing and choking after catching the daring young man who just jumped off the side of the pool. It's usually a shock to look in the mirror and see this gray-haired, wrinkled person looking back at me. But, as long as I can laugh and smile and play in the pool with grandchildren, I'll take the wrinkles and the gray hair. They don't care---why should I?