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When Your Body Does Things You Don’t Want It To Do
There are times to fight and times to let go
Kenny Rogers had a facelift a few years before he passed. I had met him pre-facelift surgery many years ago, then again after the procedure. The second time was awkward, mostly because I had to look away and bite my tongue hard. I didn’t even recognize him until someone at the party I was attending pointed him out.
The eye job had changed his face dramatically. If you’ve ever met someone who’s had bad plastic surgery, you know what I mean. The skin around the eyes was pulled back so far that his eyes were wider apart and had become slits.
He regretted it and said so in a 2012 CBS This Morning interview for his memoir, Luck or Something Like It. When asked why he did it, he said he had the money, he had the time, and it was done by someone he called the world’s best. All I know is that I found it unnerving, like a car crash. I wanted to look away but couldn’t.
It’s hard to see the outer changes that happen in our later years. They’re different than what our minds tell us we look like, and we may want to hold off on those changes as long as we can. Kenny admitted he was concerned about what his face would have looked like without the surgery.
Our changes fall into two groups: there are internal and external things you can do something about and changes you can’t. What they have in common is that you can’t stop either from happening. For example, we’re all going to turn gray. Right now, my wife is fighting what will soon be a losing battle. She’s going to her hairdresser more frequently to keep those gray roots at bay. Meanwhile, I went gray at 35.
Other aesthetic changes are skin folds and age spots. Parts of us start to sag, and our weight gets distributed differently. Even someone like Arnold Schwarzenegger becomes thicker around the middle, and he works hard to stay in shape.
I now understand why some men become butt-crack guys. My rear end disappeared some time ago, and no matter how many squats I do, I don’t see it coming back. TMI? Sorry.
The inside changes can be dangerous. I’ve inherited my parent’s high blood pressure, and my doctor says even though I’m in great shape, I’ll have it…
