The Driver’s Licence Photo

Source of photo: Pinterest

I mostly love getting older – I am calmer, far less self-conscious and so much more confident. I’ve embraced my white hair. I accept my glasses. I live with the fact that I never have very much energy. I love that I don’t get hot flashes anymore.

But every once in awhile, getting older can really suck.

Like, how, when I look in the mirror, I still see my twenty-year old self looking back at me. And I swear, she hasn’t changed a bit.

It’s funny how our reflections can lie to us but our passport photo and driver’s licence never do. My husband and I joke that if those photos were the first glimpse a person got of us, they would swear we are both two aging convicts, looking like we are about to rob a bank.

I was horrified the first time I went in to get my driver’s licence photo taken and was told not to smile (!!!) and… to remove my makeup!!! I never wear very much (if any) but knowing I will be stuck with that awful photo for five years has always motivated me to show up looking my very best: I make sure my hair looks nice that day; I wear a turtle neck to hide my neck wrinkles; I put on the lipstick you can’t easily remove (so that I can make a show of ‘removing’ it even though I can’t).

The hardest thing to fix is my eyes. I‘ve been allergic to mascara for many years now, and my sister and I have both noticed a tendency that our eyelids have of, well, drooping a little. Somehow, neither of us see it too much when we are just looking in the mirror but oh, it’s so obvious in that blasted driver’s licence photo! I recently told her about a little trick I devised several years back: they won’t let me wear makeup; they won’t let me smile; but there is nothing they can do to stop me from raising my eyebrows a bit as they snap the picture.

Instant eyelift!

My sister was in hysterics when I shared this pearl of wisdom with her. “You know that doesn’t really work,” she laughed “All you’re managing to do is to look surprised. And weird. And kind of stupid.”

Okay, so we both had a great laugh. But the more I think about it; she’s the baby of the family; what does she know?

Next time I have to get my driver’s licence renewed, I’m raising my eyebrows anyway.

Let’s see them try and stop me.

Patti Moore Wilson/© wednesdayschildca.wordpress.com

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