Did you know that Ponce de Leon's first name was not Ponce? His name was actually Juan—Juan Ponce de Leon—seeker of the legendary Fountain of Youth. Interesting fellow. Born in 1474, this Spanish explorer's life was filled with adventure. At the age of 19, Ponce—I mean Juan—sailed on Christopher Columbus's second voyage to America.
Years later, when he was 38, King Ferdinand gave him permission to find and colonize an island called Bimini—an imaginary island, it turns out, said to be the site of the Fountain of Youth. According to medieval folklore, the spring was the Water of Life in the Garden of Eden. It was supposed to make old people young and keep young people young if they drank from it.
In 1513, after years of searching unsuccessfully for the famed fountain, he happened to land in Florida, which maybe explains why many folks of an age to care about the Fountain of Youth, still go there. Ponce started the trend.
At any rate, in 1521, Ponce de Leon sailed from Puerto Rico with 200 men and enough supplies to establish a colony in Florida. As it turned out, angry natives attacked, and the Spanish explorer was wounded by an arrow. He and a few other survivors escaped to Cuba, where he died of his infected wound. He was 47 years old, not even a senior citizen yet. But if his goal in seeking the Fountain of Youth was to avoid growing old, then he succeeded.
I can understand his wish to retain youth. It can be frustrating, this march of time. You finally get your head together, and your body starts falling apart. There are other signs of aging: You look in the mirror and see your mother's face. Your children begin to look middle aged. It takes twice as long to look half as good.
Yet, there are compensations for growing old: You don't look so good—but then, you don't see so well, either. Still, you can walk with your head held high—as you try to get used to your bifocals.
Personally, I think that people should be born old and then achieve youth when they have earned the right to enjoy it. Marie Stopes said, "When I was 16, I was vain because someone praised me, and my father said, 'They are only praising your youth. You can take no credit for beauty at 16. But if you are beautiful at 60 it will be your own soul's doing. Then you may be proud of it and be loved for it.'"
Actually, I think older people are beautiful. Richter said, "Gray hairs seem to my fancy like the soft light of the moon, silvering over the evening of life." Chapin went a step further: "An aged Christian, with the snow of time on his head, may remind us that those points of earth are whitest which are nearest Heaven."
There is something romantic about age. One person observed: "We love old cathedrals, old furniture, old silver, old dictionaries, and old prints, but we have entirely forgotten the beauty of old men. "Another agreed: "I contend that old men and women can be attractive and dignified, just as old trees, old eagles, and old homes are."
Let me grow lovely, growing old— So many fine things do; Laces, and ivory, and gold, And silks need not be new. And there is healing in old trees, Old streets a glamour hold; Why may not I, as well as these, Grow lovely, growing old? —Karle Wilson Baker
One woman was observed by her young grandchild as she was applying her makeup. "What are you doing, Grandma, filling in the cracks?"
Personally, I've never been concerned about wrinkles and such. In fact, I think that smile wrinkles are quite a delightful achievement. Everyone is attractive when they smile. As one new senior citizen said, "I've learned that attractiveness is a positive, caring attitude and has nothing to do with face lifts or nose jobs." (If wrinkles are a concern for you, someone suggested that to prevent sagging, just keep eating 'til the wrinkles fill out. I do not recommend this, however.)
Perhaps it is all in having a positive attitude. Rinda Sudweeks chose to be a delightful, lively person. She said, "One reason I took this attitude is because as a girl I had lots of freckles and thought I was homely. I decided, 'I'm not pretty, and I'm not rich, and I'm not very smart_but I can be happy.'" She added, "When you get out of school, nobody remembers what your grades were anyway, but they will remember how happy you were. Sometimes a stranger comes up to me and says, 'You have the happiest smile I have ever seen.' I do think that a positive attitude keeps you younger longer."
I found one article in Life very interesting. It is titled, "There She Is, Ms. Senior America." Once a year, beauty queens of a certain age pack their evening gowns and participate in a pageant to determine who's the most glamorous grandma of them all. This feel-good contest has drawn entrants up to 99 years old.
The article explains the pageant's origin: "Back in 1972, Al Mott, a former minister, had a curious brainstorm: I'll put on a beauty pageant for women 60 and older! The contestants for his Ms. Senior America title would be judged in such categories as interview, talent, and evening gown, yes, but he also quickly figured...If they have to wear a swimsuit, it's going to ruin everything. So he invented the 'inner beauty' category, in which a woman shares her philosophy of life. As Mott puts it, 'It's not about eyesight. It's about insight'" (Life, May 5, 2006).
They say that aging is really a matter of mind: If you don't mind, then it doesn't matter. None of us will retain the fresh physical beauty of youth; the Fountain of Youth remains an illusion. But inner beauty, whatever our age, is real.
