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“PEARL”

Travelling back..decades I remember this amazing ,classy looking lady I worked with. Her hair was flawless and silver gray. She moved through the halls with a take charge attitude and her high stepping was a well rehearsed dance. Anyone who saw her had to take notice, even a twenty year old like myself.” Pearl” made you stop and say to yourself,” She is HOW old?”

The men young and old fantasized about her, the women young and old envied her. Pearl was a force. She was kind and polite, but underneath, you knew she knew she was a HOT NUMBER! “Pearl” had a head -turning strut, but you could see her sitting comfortably with the ” church-ladies” in their lovely hats having a quiet tea

The moment I saw her I knew I wanted to be her, one day. Again, I was 20, that meant something, especially to the twenty-something generation. Immersed in the “I can do anything/I’m gonna live forever”  culture. Pearl was a pleasant distraction but I was/we were YOUNG! How could I ever know that saying/thinking “I want to be her one day..” would entail much more than mimicking a look. Why would I care.

Fast forward; what we NOW are is young-at heart, but the image of beautiful , beautiful “Pearl” is still embedded in my mind. That silver-gray hair is now mine. Though it could be easily remedied I chose to keep it embrace it show it off.I have, after all earned each and every sparking-shining strand on my head. I hear from my contemporaries as well as younger folks,” see if my hair would gray like that….” I smile a wry smile thinking, “As though I have a say in that process.”

I keep active, although it takes more effort than before. How many days does laying in bed seem/ feel/ sound far more appealing than get up/ get dressed/ and go sweat it off at the gym. And honestly I have fallen into the” bed culture”. The return is far more difficult than the maintain. Yet,  today I have a reminder, a goal in mind. I have to get to my “Pearl“status.