I can always tell....

.....when a woman is taking hormone replacement therapy, said a doctor friend I swim with.  "And I am sure you are," he added.  Well, as a matter of fact, I have been on the lowest dose of estrogen for 26 years, so he was correct.  

It must be working because many times, when learning my age, people are amazed.  They say they thought I was 20 years younger.  It is because of what estrogen does for the skin -- probably also helps that I don't smoke.  (Note:  Remember, I am writing this blog as a legacy for my grands, who currently have no idea what I'm really like, so if it sounds as if I am bragging at times, it's because I hope they get the full measure of me.  I am not just some old lady who makes muffins and pancakes.)  

About ten years ago, I was stopped by a complete stranger in the supermarket who approached me and said, "I just want to tell you you are very beautiful."  I almost dropped, as I quickly looked around to see if she had had an accomplice who was standing nearby to pick the wallet out of my purse while she distracted me.  But no, she was alone and seemed to have said it for no reason?

However, I did have my wallet stolen about 15 years ago in Vancouver by a man/woman team of very well-dressed pick-pockets.  Having breakfast with my daughter, I had hung my purse on the back of my chair.  In these two strolled and sat down.  Quickly, the woman rose and made a scene, while the man sat quietly behind me.  Distracted by her shenanigans, we all stared in her direction instead of at what her accomplice had been up to.  They left as quietly as they had entered, just strolling out in no rush whatsoever.  

Oblivious to what had befallen me, I arrived at the ferry terminal for Victoria and reached for my wallet to buy the ticket.  Gone.  Panicking and casting my mind back, I put two-and-two together and realized I had had my pocket picked by a couple of real pros.  I immediately called the police and my bank and discovered the bank had already cancelled my cards for "unusual activity", but not before these two had charged more than $2,500 in an hour.  What an expensive pain in the a-- to have had to replace all my cards.  Brings to mind Dickens' 'Oliver Twist' and Fagan, with his band of young brigands.  

But back to unsolicited comments from strangers.  Yesterday, leaving a restaurant, I crossed paths under the lintel with a middle-aged woman with long, grey hair.  "I love your hair!," she said about my cropped variety.  "And your skin.  Amazing!"  "I am very close with Estée Lauder (see below)," I explained, adding that estrogen was also behind the condition of the skin.

 

I will often approach total strangers myself and compliment them on their shoes, hair or outfits -- often asking where they had bought them.  It's amazing how little a compliment costs the giver and how much it means to the recipient.