Impossible Beauty
My mother scowls at the mirror. Even at her age, she isn’t at peace with her appearance. “My face looks like a melted candle made of skin.”
I tell her, “Mama, you’re 90, you should have wrinkles. You’ve earned them.” (Although I deserve credit for a few.)
She pulls at her neck with a disgusted expression on her face.
My wife looks in the mirror with the same expression and says, “I look so old.”
So, there it is. The two most beautiful women I’ve ever known don’t see it, don’t know they’re beautiful. Is there hope for anyone?
Illustration by Steve Spetseris
Your mother and your wife are both undoubtedly 16 or 25 or 32 inside and that it why it is such a shock to see someone else's much older face in the mirror.
🥹 I’ll be thinking about this one for a while. Your writing is so poignant and touching, Rudy. Really beautiful.