Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com

Published - Thursday, April 24, 2008

Grandchild serves as reminder to say something nice

By Linda Fort | Community columnist

Who among us doesn’t like a compliment occasionally? Yes, we are all just a bit vain and like to hear someone compliment us.

I have been given a compliment that only an innocent five-year-old would honestly give. Our granddaughters were here for supper one evening, and as we ate supper, my five-year-old granddaughter looked across the table at me and asked what those lines were by my mouth.

OK my brain thought; she is going to compare me to old grandmas who have a lot of lines on their faces; it was bound to happen.

I told her they are called laugh lines because you get them when your mouth laughs.

“Well, (she now starts most sentences with “well”),” she said, “They look really good on your face.”

Of course this little girl will never do anything wrong in this grandma’s eyes ever again. She has given me a completely honest, sincere compliment about my middle-aged face. I must be wearing it well.

I have to admit that a lot of it is genetics. If you knew my mom you would see what beautiful skin she still has, and I have never smoked, don’t drink and use sunscreen every day of the year. I also use special face creams that guarantee younger looking skin. Yes, I fall for those ads, too.

So what is it with most of us wanting to avoid lines on our faces? Are we trying to deny aging? I know many elderly people who have beautifully lined faces. I knew a man who has since passed away whose face always looked as cracked as a well-used baseball glove but it held such character that I thought someone should draw or paint his face.

When I am with elderly people I love to study their faces. Faces can tell you a lot about a person. If there are deep furrows on the forehead they probably spent too much time either in worry or angry.

All that wasted energy leaves tracks on your face for the world to see. I might add that to my list of what I do for my face; avoid worry and anger; the older I get the less time I have for either one.

But when a face is clear of deep furrows on the forehead, chances are there are wonderful lines by the corners of the eyes and laugh lines. They have used their faces well; they have enjoyed life and that is visible to us.

I am not searching for a fountain of youth. I am a middle-aged grandma who is enjoying the best years of her life. I have a wonderful job (well actually three wonderful jobs), a good family, the best group of friends anyone could ask for and my grandchildren.

Younger people think they have the best years, but they don’t. Now at this age one can step back and learn from the mistakes made in younger years.

There are days when I am just in complete awe of what has happened in my life; all the events that have brought me to this moment in time.

I am able to look at my life and think “Oh, so this is what it’s all about; I didn’t know it was going to be this much fun; I should have been this age all the while.”

And amazingly, each year I feel the same way. I wish the same for you.

Linda Fort lives on a farm near Ridgeway, Minn., raises calves and heifers and crops. In addition to staying active in the community, she’s enjoying grandparenthood. “There’s a reason they call it ‘grand.’”