The Beauty of Aging

By Lora Kinder

I’d rather have a face that shows the lines of laughter and tears.

I remember as a child looking at my grandmother’s wrinkled cheeks. Lines creased the corners of her eyes, and tiny lines graced her upper lip. I asked her how I could keep from getting wrinkles.

“Don’t smile,” she said. “And don’t cry.”

I followed her advice—for one day. Then I gave up. How could anyone live without smiling or crying? I decided I’d rather have a face that shows the lines of laughter and tears.

In the Book of Mormon, Lehi taught his son Jacob that we are here in mortality to have joy (see 2 Nephi 2:25). But he also taught that to know joy, we must experience sorrow (see 2 Nephi 2:22–23). I have come to see the evidence of both joy and sorrow, as it is etched in the faces of those who have lived life. Their faces carry the stories of their lives.

I agree with the person who said, “Beautiful old people are works of art.”¹ Some people develop a character in age that makes them remarkable. For example, I have gazed into the eyes of white-haired, white-clothed temple matrons and been struck by the incredible light that shines in their eyes and glows in their smiling faces.

Now that I am becoming an older woman myself, I am learning that there are certain joys that come with aging. For example, I have become more comfortable in my own body. I am just grateful that it still works! I may walk more slowly and talk more slowly than I once did. My lap may have a little more padding, and my arms are more tender. But I like to think that my touch is more gentle too.

I know that I can still keep progressing and learning, that “whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:18). And so, I look forward to the lessons I can still learn. What’s more, I can help others—like my grandchildren—to learn from the stories of my life that I can share with them.

My husband and I are even more able to accept each other and to know that we, too, can still learn and grow together. Our marriage has become richer because of the storms we have weathered together. Our children have grown up to make us proud or to make us worry, depending on the day. Grandchildren bring literal joy and rejoicing.

And with age comes the awareness that mortal life doesn’t last forever. Now is the time to do those things that I have been meaning to do. If not now, then when? “Behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors” (Alma 34:32). Hopefully, with age we realize that now is the time to say the unspoken words, heal the relationships, and accomplish the remaining goals.

As I get older, I think about the legacy that I will leave to my posterity. I hope that part of it will be that as I experienced joy and sorrow, I found wisdom. And because of that, I found beauty in aging.

The author lives in California, USA.