Well, now I have grey hairs, at least five or six. I thought about plucking them out, but I kinda like them. They are a grey badge of courage, a sign of what I have weathered. Our society is way too obsessed with youth, so much so that the “failure to launch” syndrome is becoming widespread. Scientists are creating medicines so men can get erections and have their baldness cured and doctors are injecting bacteria into women’s faces to make them a wrinkle-free mask incapable of expression.
The truth is I will never be old. Partly because, as my mom says, I’m a 12 year old boy trapped in a woman’s body. She didn’t mean it as a compliment, but I took it as one. I took it to mean I’m young at heart (and appreciate a good fart joke). And partly because I enjoy life. People who are always learning, always exploring, always sucking the marrow out of life never get old. It’s not the color of my hair that makes me young, it’s the smile on my face.