I'm still me

Things change, illness happens and we get older as the years roll by. For me, all of these things seemed to have happened over the last year. I was seriously ill and wasn't sure I would make it. In gratitude, I did survive and my health seems to be getting back to normal. However, my internal climate has changed forever. While I was fighting to survive cancer, I didn't go to the hairdresser to get my hair colored or trimmed. In fact, I had no hair to be concerned about. Chemo had me in its grip and took my hair along with my strength and my feeling of normalcy.
Now, in the aftermath, my hair has grown back out. It's not as curly as it once was and it's a whole lot thicker than before, but for the first time, I see how gray it has become. Well, maybe I should be glad I've survived this long. I'm 66, not 26. It's still me. I haven't changed on the inside except that now I have life experiences and maybe I'm a little wiser. I hope so anyway. My hairdresser has retired early because of a trauma to her foot and medical issues of her own. I've read the signs and they tell me that it's time to embrace my age and who I am now. So, I took a picture of myself with my gray hair and all my well earned wrinkles and here I am.

I hope you aren't shocked. I'm still me.