I've always thought that your hair looks beautiful, Suz. I bet it would look beautiful grey too.

I, too, found Madonna's look decidedly unattractive. It looks plastic because it is. All it does is make me think of Michael Jackson whose face ended up destroyed from all the cosmetic surgery. And that's not how I would want to be remembered.

Aging gracefully to me means showing up as you feel comfortable yet embracing the changes that age brings, however that looks for you. It's the attempts to cover up the signs of aging as if no one could ever be allowed to find out the truth that make people lose their grace. Aging doesn't mean we aren't beautiful still, as you have so eloquently pointed out.

Great essay!