To My Friends

The next time that you see me I will be grey.

Of course I mean my hair. It's no longer soft and chestnut brown, but grey. 

Since you last saw me, since I locked my door in March, I've become old.

My eyebrows now resemble knots of May, tangled and unkempt. 

My laughter-lines have settled in place and must now be honestly described as crows'-feet, (unless you wish to, cruelly, call them wrinkles!).

I have turned from, "Surely you're not 60" to "She must be more than 60" overnight.

OK, not quite overnight, but in three months.

I know the woman in the bathroom mirror, but I wish I didn't. I liked the old me. I was vain.

Will I colour my hair? No, the risk of discovery is too great. One missed appointment, one failed home dye and the secret would be out.

I will just embrace my new granniness. 

But please, when you see me, don't ask me why I stopped dying my hair because, although you won't believe this, I didn't need to - until now.

Bridget is a Postgraduate student, grandmother and children's author.