Member-only story
Life|Aging
I’m Just an Old Lady
On being invisible after 60
I didn’t think it was going to be this way.
Invisible. Discarded. Disregarded. Ignored. Brushed Off.
I had no idea.
I used to turn heads. Now I barely get a glance.
Young people rush past me on the sidewalk like I’m invisible.
I speak, and sometimes I feel unheard.
Not because my voice is soft, but because I’m just an old lady.
No one really takes me seriously anymore. My words and wisdom fall flat. On deaf ears.
I look in the mirror and I don’t recognize the woman staring back at me. She has sad eyes. Her spark is gone.
Her youth is gone. Twinkles have turned into wrinkles.
I stopped colouring my hair and everything changed. My face changed. The way people look at me and treat me has changed.
No one told me this part was going to be really hard. The part where age replaces youth. The part where I look in the mirror and the woman staring back at me is old now.
She’s still beautiful, though. She’s not just an old lady.
