OMG! Imagine my shock when I opened an e-mail to find this image of my special friend Lucy!

Even poor Lucy cannot escape the ravage of time. Is this really what the future holds for this beautiful young woman... my friend... my best friend?

Ahhhh... yes, time does take it's toll on us all if we are fortunate enough to live so long and our only salvation is surgery or to do our best to age gracefully.
As for me, I will stick with aging gracefully... or as gracefully as possible.
And here again, Lucy can teach us an important lesson.

Somehow, when we have a smile on our face, we do not look quite so dour... and aren't smile wrinkles better than frown wrinkles?
And we must always remember... beneath that facade is a whole life filled with wonderful stories to share, memories of friends and family and words of wisdom to be had.
It has taken years to develop such a face with character and no two faces are ever the same.

In spite of the emphasis on youth in today's world, it is the person inside that really matters, irrelevant of how it is packaged,
yet the aging process can be startling if it does not occur gradually.

I think we can all look back at a photo that was taken of us years ago when we thought it was a terrible photo
and now today look back at that same photo and would wish we still looked that young, that thin and that vibrant.

Yes the years take their toll but it also gives us a new perspective on life and what is really important!

Thanks to my good friend Tess for doing this "evil magic" to Lucy's photo with her iPhone app "Old Fart Booth" and thereby causing us to reflect on life itself.

BTW... I have threatened her to NEVER do this to one of my personal photos as the aging process needs no help!