black don't crack...

today we celebrated my great aunt daisy's 77th birthday, a surprise party at outback steakhouse.

it's a blessing to reach that age and still look as good as she does. she still has a great sense of style, drives around in a snazzy pt cruiser and even has a cute boyfriend that she takes romantic getaways with. go on, withcha bad self, aunt daisy.

i must say that the women in our family, especially my mother's side, has been bestowed with great genes that allow us to look a lot younger than we really are. it's the reason why my mother gets annoyed (but secretly loves it) when i tell people her real age, because they always guess a number that's more than 10 years off. and as the song goes, "she get from her mama," so i'm grateful i'll be fooling people well into my older age.

but then i thought, as i devoured my fried shrimp, black women (and men, too) really don't show their age. sure they may have gray hair and a couple of wrinkles here and there. but for the most part, we age gracefully.

every year, essence magazine does this spread of women who defy the odds in can you guess how old i am?, usually around the first of the year. the mag features women who's age ain't nothing but a number, and getting down ain't nothing but a thing. they are ladies who still dance, run companies, bodybuild and look about 20 years younger doing it all. what got me this year was a lady who was (and i'm trying to remember exactly) about 103, who only appeared to be about 60. i was mystified.

it's amazing all the things we go through as black women: dealing with black men bullshit, white men envy, white women false-worship, our sometimes ignorant-acting black children. it's a wonder why we aren't sagged with wrinkles upon wrinkles like sophia petrillo from the golden girls (my fav show).

but we manage to hold up good, thank God. because only he could make us as strong as we are and still look good. look at lena horne, at eartha kitt, or even at the late miss coretta scott king (r.i.p.). Lord knows she's seen enough for three life times, but she always looked fresh and beautiful every single time i saw her.

so, in honor of growing old gracefully....

this is for you, aunt daisy....