She's Got Friends

Well, today's my birthday. Yep. Another "year older," though I think I will always feel like a pup. I guess that's what a fall birthday does to you. I started kindergarten when I was 4, and graduated from high school when I was 17. For those formative 13 years of my life, I was always "the youngest." Even now I look a lot younger than I am. Many people peg me to be in my mid-twenties when they first meet me. Maybe that's part of the reason I still assume I'm the youngest one in the crowd wherever I am.
But this summer I saw something in the mirror which indicated to me I just might be getting older after all.
I was probably putting on make-up and leaned in close to the mirror when I saw a gray hair. A gray one. On me!
At first I was a little upset. I mean, I'm too young for this, am I not? But then I looked at it again and noticed it was in a curl. Just one lone, gray hair, in a curl. And I decided it was kind of cute. In fact, I called my husband in to show him that now I was getting mature, like him. (He's been collecting gray hairs for quite a while. But his aren't curly!) And I said, "Isn't she cute?" He just looked at me with a bit of concern on his face and smiled, "Yes, dear."
And that was that. I knew I had one gray hair, and I decided I would let her stay. (Not sure about that old tale - pluck one and two will come back - and don't want to chance it!)
But very recently I did a close up in the mirror again and discovered something even more shocking. She's got friends!

Two of them!

This is making me think my friend ADHD may be on to something with her conspiracy theory. Because here I am at 37, and clearly something in the water is changing my hair from brown to gray. One piece at a time. Not to mention I have noticed over the past weeks that my eyes are taking a little longer to re-focus when I look at something far away after I've been focusing on something up close.
*sigh*
Oh, well. What is there to do? I'm getting my hair cut and highlighted this morning. Happy Birthday to me! After that I guess I'll come home and have a quiet lunch - just me and my three gray friends. Then maybe I'll send a card to my sister, just to remind her she's 40, and I'm not!