It was gradual, so gradual in fact I didn’t even notice it was happening. It started with some Alka Seltzer and just didn’t stop until I looked the day of my last 40-something birthday and was immediately transported to a simpler, younger time.
In my 20’s my bathroom cabinet was full of affordable (cheap) face creams from the local pharmacy and some Alka Seltzer, which my friend told me would help settle my tummy after a particularly eventful evening leading to a slightly difficult morning. Absolutely nothing a really good cooked breakfast and some Alka Seltzer couldn’t fix.
In my 30’s my cabinet had been promoted to holding a plethora of stupidly expensive face and eye creams, more creams than it could hold but I always needed something new and better than the last and I was a sucker for the sales pitch. By this time I had added Tylenol to the Alka Seltzer and some Flonase as I had out of the blue developed allergies. I was still young and active but my fabulously fun nights took a little longer to get over. I needed a lot more than Alka Seltzer, bacon and eggs. I also needed extra eye cream for puffy eyes and some melatonin for the ridiculous amount of sleep I had to have.
In my 40’s I have one very expensive eye cream and had settled on one face cream. Lucky really as there is absolutely no room left in my cabinet for anything else. When did I start to need indigestion tables? Not just one but three! Zantac, Pepto and the more embarrassing need of Gas-Ex – what the hell? I have Advil, Tylenol, Excedrin and of course Alka Seltzer, but now three different kinds. I have Flonase, Claritin-D and Patanol. I have Nyquil and Dayquil. When did all this happen? Why did all this happen? More importantly why did my bathroom cabinet decide to make me feel really old on my birthday. Had I just not noticed its demise? Or had I chosen to ignore it? Should I be embarrassed or just accept it as part of getting older?
I suppose I have no choice but to succumb to its demise as the contents of my bathroom cabinet does make me better, healthier and sometimes younger.
Cheers to my fabulous 40-Something Life.
