I only notice afterwards, it’s four or five in the morning, there are no lines in her face; her smile has erased them. Her forehead is taut and smooth. We both say Thank you!, our approved and simple formula of mutual appreciation. We shower, dress and start the day refreshed; and, pleasantly tired.
Later, the wrinkles around her eyes have resurfaced; her eyes smile at our granddaughters. My wife’s brow is now creased in concentration. She is making sugar cookies and icing, all while blocking the five-year-old’s hands from the mixer and verifying the recipe measurements of the thirteen-year-old. These wrinkles and creases are grandma’s love lines and lessons; hard fought from multitasking and justly earned.
The smooth-faced woman of the bedroom from the younger part of the day is my lover, my spouse, my forgiver. The etched-faced woman of the kitchen from the advancing day is our grandchildren’s teacher, their confidant, often their co-conspirator, and their forgiver of small crimes and selfishnesses.
This is the Janus-woman living in my life.
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