**Diary Entry**
She turned seventy todaya milestone! To celebrate, she bought some fine fabric and had a lovely dress made. Elegant and graceful. Then she ordered a pair of expensive silver earrings online. When she put it all on and looked in the mirror, she couldve sworn she looked younger.
*”You simply cant go without a little something new now and then,”* she thought. *”It lifts the spirits.”*
She set to work in the kitchen, preparing a feast for her guestsher sisters were coming, and her brother was bringing their elderly mother, whod soon be ninety-five. The table gleamed with the good china, and the food looked irresistible.
When her mother arrived, they seated her in the place of honour. Shed sit for a while, as always, then rest in the next room when she tired. The birthday girl changed into her new dress, fastened the earrings, and stepped out to greet her guests. They gasped.
She was pleaseddelighted, reallyto have surprised them, to be admired. They raised their glasses in toast after toast, until one sister suddenly said,
*”Honestly, youve shocked me. Ordering a new dress at seventy. And those earringsso extravagant! What for? You never go anywhere. No husband to impress, no work, no theatre outings. Youve got cupboards full of lovely old dresseswear those out first.”*
The others nodded, chiming in about their own wardrobes bursting with unworn clothes.
And just like that, the new dress felt tight. The earrings weighed heavy on her ears. A hollowness settled in her chest. The thought struck her like a knife*Seventy is seventy. Lifes passed you by, and here you are, a dolled-up old woman.*
Her smile vanished, her face stiffened. She didnt want to talk, didnt want to eat. The guests sensed the shift and fell quiet.
Then her mother, silent until now, spoke.
*”My mother lived nearly a hundred, and so did my father. Long life runs in our blood. When my mother turned ninety, my father went to the market and bought her a deep red shawl. At dinner, he pulled it from hiding and draped it over her shoulders. She sat there, glowing, running her wrinkled fingers over it like shed shed twenty years. Remember, loveits the soul that matters. Things exist for us, not the other way round. They bring us joy. But what truly makes us happy is love, and being seen.”*
She paused, then turned to the sister whod spoken.
*”And youmind that sharp tongue of yours. Words have weight.”*
With that, she rose and went to lie down. The table stayed sombre. The sister muttered an apology, but the air remained thick. They spoke, but the words didnt stick. They joked, but no one laughed.
Thensalvation. Her favourite niece burst in with her husband, all cheer and laughter. The husband knelt, presenting a bouquet of roses, then sang a line from an old ballad. The niece opened a small boxinside, a string of river pearls.
*”Where on earth did you find these?”* everyone cried.
The niece clasped them around her aunts neck, dragged her to the mirror, hugged her, clapped, laughed. Just like that, the poison lifted. Glasses clinked again*To your health!*and the room buzzed with real joy.
She sat there, thinking, *Seventy? Whats seventy? So much life aheadjust to live and be glad.*
And she wasglad. A woman in a beautiful dress, pearls at her throat, smiling like shed found her youth again.
**Lesson:** Never let anyone dull your spark, not even with kindness wrapped in scorn. Joy isnt for the youngits for the living.
