Mirror, Mirror by Betsy Ashton

What do you see when you look in the mirror? If you're a woman, do you see the young lass you were? Do you see wrinkles and age marks? Do you see your mother looking back at your through your own eyes? I see all this and more.

At one time, I was a young lass. We were all young lasses, but for me that was a few decades ago. I had long, and I mean, long dark hair, was skinny as a fence post, and flat chested as the proverbial pancake. At some point along around the end of the 70s, I cut my hair and permed it to a shoulder-length mop. Yes, this was me circa 1980.

I remember that young woman. I liked her. She had spunk, sassiness and the guts to pose in a bikini. She's still inside me, but the outer shell is a bit changed.

I look in the mirror today and see a few character lines. I do NOT have wrinkles. My hair is white, mostly, and permed. When I compare the me of now and the me of then, I see the same eyes and smile. I kinda like both. Today I see a woman who is pretty darned sure of herself, who has spunk and sassiness, and the wisdom to avoid bikinis like the plague.

I also see my mother looking back at me. Mini-Mommy, as she was know to all my friends (she was barely 5'1" where I was 5'8"), had the greatest giggly-laugh. She loved nothing more than a funny joke, a good book, and terrific conversation. She taught me to listen, think, and then speak, a lesson I generally tend to ignore. I don't often think before I run my mouth, but that might be a topic for a different blog post.

The point here is, we are all of our experiences. We are our mothers. We are our sisters and cousins. Part of our young-lass self still lives inside the older and hopefully wiser current self. Both selves make us who we are today.

The naysayers, those who would diminish our value through put-downs and bullying, have no place in our circles of friends. We need to look in the mirror for a different image, the one where we are fearless inside. The classic Facebook meme to the left is what we should see when we look in the mirror. Brave. Strong. Willing to look the world in the eye and roar.

I like the young-lass me. I like the worldly me. I like the me my mother helped form. And I like the lion me.

Which one are you?

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Betsy Ashton is the author of Mad Max, Unintended Consequences, and Uncharted Territory, A Mad Max Mystery, now available at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Is There Anyone More Lovable Than a Spunky Old Broad?

I chuckled when I read the list of topics for blogging in February. I'm sure you all know why. I mean, Spunky Old Broads? We all know I resemble that remark.

So tell me, when did we start admiring older women? I think it began in childhood with grandma. Remember those aprons, those enveloping hugs and sugary treats? And wasn't it the neatest thing when Grandma told our parents to stop scolding us? We were just being children, after all.

Those Mother Goose rhymes further reinforced the fact that old women were good, entertaining and full of love. When other adults were too busy to read to us or hear our silly jokes, older women had the time to devote to us.

When Mom declared fast food was unhealthy, cute old ladies campaigned for more meat in our sandwiches. Fact was, the more seasoned ladies were never happy until our tummies were full.

When we hit our teenaged years and looked at our parents with disdain, who did we look to for role models? That's right! Spunky old broads. They taught us it was right and good to be our own person. That marching to the beat of a drum was passe, but to dance to the beat of our internal flutes was a groovey way to inner happiness. "Don't be a cookie cutter," they instructed.

Perhaps that's why Maxine is so popular. Is she not the epitome of we older women? Sassy. Outspoken. Ballsy.

And who doesn't love Betty White, spunky old broad that she is? She's an advocate for humane animal treatment, and for that she has my gratitude. Still, old women are more than warm cookies and smiles. Try crossing one once, and see what happens...

I'm telling you, it's not a pretty sight.

I'll be 64 in May, easing into that old broad status. "When I am old, I shall wear a purple dress and red hat, which doesn't go..."

Vonnie Davis is author of Storm's Interlude, a contemporary romance set in the hill country of Texas, available now from The Wild Rose Press and Amazon. Her novella, Those Violet Eyes, is part of the Honky Tonk Heart series and will be released June 25th. A romantic suspense set in Paris, Mona Lisa's Room, will be released this year also with the Wild Rose Press.