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Dear Aging,
Mum has been looking at herself strangely lately.
She pulls at the corners of her eyes and studies the little lines around her mouth.
Sometimes she squeezes her thighs, which I do not understand at all.
I have never once considered squeezing mine.
They seem to be doing their job.
Sometimes she gets very quiet after.
I do not think she is surprised that faces change.
I think she is surprised to see hers changing.
Knowing something will happen and seeing that it has begun are two very different things.
And I am starting to think…
the mirror is only part of it.
The older humans get,
the more lives they carry inside them.
But somehow,
the less of them the world seems to see.
People ask Mum how old I am too.
When she tells them, they smile at the gray around my face.
They rub it with their thumbs and call me handsome.
Mum notices the lines around her own eyes and tries to pull them smooth.
I have not figured out why age becomes precious on a dog
and something to hide on a human.
The funny thing is, I do not feel particularly old anyway.
Yesterday I threw my goose across the room and attacked it like I had a personal vendetta.
I chase squirrels in the backyard even though I will never catch them.
How strange to grow older in somebody else’s eyes
while still feeling so much like yourself.
So Mum, you can look at the corners of your eyes if you need to.
You can miss a younger face sometimes, too.
Just know that while you look in the mirror and notice everything that is leaving,
I look at you and only notice that you are still here.
I would hate for us to waste a perfectly good afternoon.
Love,
Uncle Tio 
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