My sister Anne and I were often mistaken for twins when we were kids. Because of this, and the fact that everyone in her apartment complex at BYU knew I was her sister the second they laid eyes on me when I visited from Ricks, we started a tradition of staring into the mirror, cheek to cheek and comparing our faces. Seriously, every time we have been shocked at how alarmingly different we look. Every feature is so different, we are baffled at how anyone could think we look similar.
We are only 13 months apart. Anne used to love to laugh through the entire month in which she was actually TWO years older than me. I was such a baby that month! Ha!
But now the laugh's on her! That extra year and a month has rewarded her with the beloved prize time allows us all: wrinkles. Wrinkles before her baby sister started showing them. Who's laughing now, huh Anne!?! Hahahahahahahaha!
Just kidding.
I hope I didn't have to say that. I would never laugh at the misfortunes of a sibling. Well, that's not true. At all. But whatever. The point is, in this case I did not and will not laugh at my sister. The only reason I even noticed her wrinkles at all was because of the fact that she brought it up about three times a day. We had a number of conversations like these:
Anne: Look at these wrinkles on my forehead!!! And the one on the bridge of my nose!! Can you believe those!?!
Me: Yes. Yes I can.
Anne: But you don't have any wrinkles!
Me: Yes I do (smiling and pointing under my eyes). See?
Anne: Those don't count.
Me: Well how does it happen that you're the one who gets to determine which wrinkles count and which don't?
*****
Anne: You use different moisturizers on your face for day and night?
Me: Uuuuum, yes.
Anne: (Rolls eyes.)
*****
Anne: (suspiciously) Why are you rubbing your eyes like that?
Me: That's how I rub my eyes, Anne.
Anne: See!! You're totally trying to avoid wrinkles!!
*****
Anne: I'm thinking of getting Botox.
Our sister Su is 4 years older than me (that's 3 years older than Anne, if you do the math.). I'm not sure about her wrinkles. Does she have any? I think she does. I don't really remember. I try not to memorize people's wrinkles. And we didn't have many wrinkle-centered conversations in the days I spent with her.
I think wrinkles are fine. They're neat. And mostly they're inevitable. So who cares? It's just your face. And they're only skin deep. Accept them and move along.
I've been realizing that I think I will have wrinkles above my upper lip. Does this delight me? Not really but we age how we age. I'm not going to try to smile less frequently to minimize those wrinkles. (Or, actually, now that I've thought of it, I might. I'll just claim I stopped being happy and nobody will be the wiser. It will be my own little wrinkle-avoiding secret. Except never mind because Greg and the kids are way too funny for me to pretend to be sad through their jokes. Forget that idea, self.)
So to Anne I say: A lot can happen in 13 months. By the time I'm the age Anne is now I may be far more wrinkled, even by her own standard, than she is now. The next time I visit California and we look at our faces side by side in the mirror we may decide to go in for Botox together*.
*Not really.
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