Two New Old Friends

Two friends have decided to come over and hang out. They do absolutely nothing but stare back at me without saying a word. I don't know if to snub them or just stare back at them. At times we just gawk at one another without a word exchanged between the three of us. I sometimes want to know why they’ve decided to show up now, of all times, but I keep my thoughts and questions to myself. Maybe they feel they are serving a purpose. I might ask them about it later. Of course they knew when they would come into my life but it was an unexpected visit for me. I always wondered when the day would come that they would stop by to see me. Seems to me they would have given me more time before stopping by but it seems I was wrong. They’ve decided to stay with me for longer than I thought. I often consider kicking them out but a friend is a friend right?

Days go by that I forget they’re there but all of a sudden I see them looking at me in the mirror. I thought they would give up and call it quits but to my dismay they have invaded my life and will probably stick around to the end. So until then I feel forced to take care of them and treat them like all my other friends that pop up. I'm hoping they don't bring the rest of their entourage with them. But I think eventually I will lose in the end. If they do I'll be forced to end the union between us with some unnatural treatments in order to get rid of them. Or maybe I'm not thinking clearly, being too rash in my decisions. Perhaps I will let the members of their posse stay as well. I'll see how much longer I can stand them but they better not pull any stunts or I'll have no choice but to pull them out of my life. I feel as though that’s what they get for showing up at the most inopportune moment in my life. I hate to be racist about them but maybe if they were black I’d be more than likely to keep them around but unfortunately they are white. And with them being white it makes them more obvious and embarrassing. Maybe one of these days I’ll come around to the face the fact that my new friends, my two new gray hairs, are only natural. Who knows, there may be more where I can not see them. Hiding out of sight. Until they grow in number, I’m going to pretend my two new buddies are not there. But I know it’s only the beginning of their journey and my vanity at this present moment is scared straight. Hopefully years from now, and with a few more grays, I will learn to age gracefully and be more accepting of them.

In case you were wondering, there is a difference between a gray and white hair. And both don’t necessarily have to relate to aging at all. Some can be born with such hair color if it is a trait within their gene pool. People can begin getting gray and white hair as early as their teen years. More than 40% of people have some gray hair by the age of 40. Both hues of hair don’t actually have a “color”. It’s actually a lack of pigmentation and melanin. The hair is actually clear and shows up as gray or white when the light hits it. The process occurs when the hair root stops making melanin. Without melanin the new hairs that come up are colorless. The term for this stage of hair color change to gray is called achromotrichia. It is typical for hair to become gray and then move on to turning white.