Kelley Craghead

I finally quit caring what other people think when I realized what they think of me is none of my business. It took a divorce, walking away and starting over (a few times) but I found my backbone, my funnybone and my mouth and all three get regular workouts. I find myself recognizing and embracing the best qualities of all the women I grew up around. While I may not choose to age “gracefully” like society may expect of women over 50, I am at least trying to age while allowing myself grace.

I don’t really look at myself as “fabulous”, and that’s not modesty. It’s just that growing up, the women around me who thought of themselves as fabulous - just weren’t. The women I saw as fabulous laughed loudly and wore smile lines, they dressed and acted how they wanted, they carried their weight and the word “quit” wasn’t in their vocabularies. So I laugh (a lot), I make sure I like how I look and what I’m wearing, I do the things I need to do and even if I shed some tears, I don’t quit.

I’d get my dad and husband some hearing aids (if they’d let me). After that, I’d invest in myself and my artwork to design and fill a fabulous studio workspace for painting and creating. I’m sure I’d treat myself with some new skincare, makeup and a closet re-fresh (probably just more leggings and t shirts if I’m being honest). Maybe I’d even have my hair done in a salon (I haven’t done that for at least 8 years).