What Mom Didn't Tell Me

"Aging is not for the weak of heart" is a sentiment I hear, feel and see a lot of lately. One's body changes, a hip or knee goes awry, bones become more prone to breaking, memories may fail, hearing and eyesight is often affected, independence may be lost, housing situations may change, a good night's sleep is often a thing of the past and a myriad of illnesses may or may not be diagnosed, changing the way one lives their life.

Mom was not one who liked to speak of any of the above. I can think of numerous occasions where she would simply scoff and make a comment that made one aware that she couldn't remember the last time she had a good night's sleep. 

Mom simply didn't complain of ill health until she had reached a state where medical intervention was required. Other than her "funny head" we heard very little about aging from Mom. There was ONE time when she leaned in to tell me something I knew was going to be important. 

We must have been speaking of personal grooming, shaving legs and such. In a very hushed tone, she told me "Something you rarely hear, is that your hair stops growing at some point ...", which was translated to mean that eventually you don't have to shave your legs. 

I smiled to myself and recalled this very personal conversation with Mom when I reached the point of not needing to shave my legs. I kept up the habit for a while, then winter arrived and I let things slide.

Spring has sprung and I happened to think of my winter white legs and the eventuality of having them see the light of day. Upon close examination, I found one long black hair on one leg. I thought I would have to shave after all. But I kept forgetting. Then I thought to examine my need for hair removal again and noticed one long black hair on my other leg and a short hair on the leg that sprouted the first long hair. 

I laughed to myself when I realized a razor wasn't required to shave three hairs. I pulled out the tweezers and one, two, three! I was done.

Mom never told me about this. I have reached the age where the stray hairs that grow on my chin have exceeded the hairs on my legs.