Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Gotta Love Him



I was talking to a daughter and mentioned a mother of teens who had evidently streaked her hair with Kool-Aid (food dye? Crayola markers?) in a shade of red not found in real hair.

“Was she single?” my daughter wanted to know.

Hmm. What would be the purpose? To attract a man who wanted a younger woman? If he wanted a younger woman and you fooled him into thinking you were younger, what would happen when you got even older? Seems self-defeating. I, for one, wouldn’t want a man who didn’t want the real me. I seem to get realer by the minute.

My daughter thanked me for not being one of those women who tries too hard to look younger. And yes, she meant it in the nicest way possible, so shut up. She mentioned middle-aged women lusting after significantly-younger males, women old enough to be the boys’ mothers wearing T-shirts proclaiming Team Jacob or Team Whatsisname from the Twilight movies. Nope, never occurred to me. I watched about five minutes of the first movie and then found a book to read.

Some years ago a couple I knew was lying on a beach. The turd of a husband motioned to a sweet young babe and said, “Why don’t you look like that?” The wife said, “Because I could be her mother. And you could be her father.” Unbelievably, he’s still married—and alive.

I remember the day my husband and a group of men were outside in a tourist town, waiting on the wives to finish shopping. A woman young enough to be their daughter walked by and when she was out of earshot several of the men commented on her looks. My husband’s comment? “Wow. Her mother must be beautiful.”

You gotta love a man like that.

Photo: Doris Ulmann [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

6 comments:

  1. Gotta love you, too, Valerie. You must be the real deal to have such an adoring husband.

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    1. Let's just say we've been together long enough that we've worn down each other's rough edges...

      Thanks, Bob!

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  2. Valerie, this post made me think of the friend of mine who showed up with a fiancé who was 31. She's 59! He wasn't attractive and displayed a total lack of manners. All I could think was, "If you're gonna be a cougar, at least pick a good-looking guy!"

    Then she called us later wanting my cop of a husband to settle an argument they were having with HIS parents about why said fiancé got a speeding ticket. At our age, who has the time or energy for angsting young'uns still under Mommy and Daddy's wings.

    FYI, I love the story about John's comment every time I hear it.

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    1. Yikes! Do I tell that story a lot? Am I turning into my father?

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  3. I never liked David Letterman till....
    one night I couldn't sleep (old age problem) and David Letterman was talking about boobs - of all things. Couldn't wait to hear what this idiot had to say. He likes boobs that wiggle and hang alittle - not the fake ones. Had quite a discussion on just being natural. He suddenly became my hero and I was proud of him. (of course years later he was caught having an affair - but did she have implants? I'm curious.)

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  4. Your husband is a keeper.

    As for looking our age... I'm ambivalent about this. I take care of myself. Does that make me vain? I don't want to appear 15 years younger, I want to appear like me, looking good for my age.

    Age is so relative. I don't feel like I'll be 50 in a couple of years. But I refer to what 50 used to look like for my parents' generation.

    Some people I know seem to follow the number rule. Like at 50, it's time to keep the hair short and never wear skirts above the knee. At 60, active life stops. Why?

    I play tennis with ladies who are 79 and they kicked my butt. I want to be them at 79.

    And if my DH and I ever break up - God forbid, I love the man - I wouldn't want a relationship with a man who's old. Old in his own mind, that is.

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