Save the Wrinkles

Mags: "What are all these lines when you smile?"
Me: "They are wrinkles?"
Mags: "Dimples?"
Me: "No. Wrinkles." 
Mags: "Will I have those when I'm your age?"
Me: "Maybe. Everybody is different. But when you get older, you'll start to get some wrinkles."
Mags: "Oh no. Not me. I'll find an app to fix that."

If only. If only there was an app to wipe away my wrinkles that seem to grow deeper with each passing day. My "crow's-feet" are more like "pterodactyl-feet." As time marches forward, so do the lines around my eyes, my mouth and my neck. 

I've tried creams, make-up, not smiling as much or so hard. No matter. These lines mean business and they're here to stay. As my face has transformed before my very eyes, I was becoming disheartened. And then, my sweet, talented friend, Deb, posted something that summed up these face invaders so well. In fact, it was an ad campaign that was put out by Cigna Healthcare entitled, 

'Save the Wrinkles'

My friend, Deb. Freelance writer extraordinaire.
You'll want to find her on Facebook! 

"Brilliant!" was my first reaction. "If wrinkles are in this season, then I can finally be trendy!" was my second reaction. And my third was, "The truth was looking me right in the face." (Pun intended.)

I realized that...my wrinkles are the map of my life for all the world to see. My experiences magnified. Lessons learned etched along a ridge. Pure exhilaration frozen in time. Laughter caught within a fold. Tears trickling between the grooves. My greatest accomplishments pleated into place. The monumental moments of my life framed perfectly. Who am I to discard them?  As the ad and Deb reminded me...

"THEY ARE EARNED"

Credit: Cigna

And I'm pretty sure I earned about three more after completing my 

second week as a high school teacher.