As men and women progress into their older years, they often begin feeling insecure about their physical appearance.
There’s no denying that as we age, our bodies acquire wrinkles, scars, stretch marks, and other various signs that attest to all that we’ve lived through and experienced.
While these signs of experience ought to be something to be proud of, many women, in particular, feel that they make them “ugly”. And the fact that today’s society values youth and beauty does nothing to soften the blow of aging.
NewStatesman explains, “Being an older woman is, by all accounts, grim. […] Older women ‘face daily insinuations in the media that [they] are ugly’. As women get old, their age is seen to cast a shadow over every contribution they make and every belief they hold.”
While the stigma surrounding older women is heartbreaking, in August of 2016, Brandalyn Mae Porter went out of her way to remind one aging senior of her beauty and worth.
Brandalyn, who is currently working for Assisted Living in Turkey, had been working at a nursing home when she decided to paint a new resident’s nails.
The worker was surprised when the elderly woman asked for a coat of clear polish.
She explains, “As we were going over colors, she mentioned she wanted clear. The only thought that came to my mind was ‘CLEAR?! That’s no fun.”
No fun, indeed!
Confused by such a boring choice, the woman asked the resident why she didn’t go for something a little more fun.
The senior answers honestly, saying, “My hands are ugly, I don’t want to draw attention to them.”
Brandalyn is shocked by the elderly woman’s words and reminds the senior of her beauty with a few touching words.
In a Facebook post that has since gone viral, Brandalyn explains:
“I then carefully responded with, ‘Your hands tell the story of your life. They tell the story of love, of care, and adventure. These hands have touched and held things that most people can only wish to one day.’
Brandalyn’s message must have touched the older woman because, in the end, she went with pink!
People love Brandalyn’s caring take on what this dear older woman had perceived to be an unattractive part of herself, writing:
Brandalyn’s post, which has been shared over 12,000 times, ends with a sentence that ought to be remembered:
“Sometimes what we are so insecure with, others find beauty in.”
What a beautiful message!
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