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Nothing
gives her age away - the skin on her hands is smooth, her neck is firm
and, with the exception of a few expression lines, her face defines her
true age.
Nowadays, compliments follow her everywhere, though eight
years ago, they were scarce, if non-existent, and the wolf whistles had
stopped a long time ago.
"When I hit 45, I felt ugly and old. Working
in a solicitors office, I had the same intelligence and experience, but I
was seeing less and less clients. I was miserable about the way I was
being treated," she says, sipping a cappuccino.
Unhappy with the
way her ageing face failed to match her young body, she stepped up her
fitness regime, cut out all the unhealthy food and bought a book on face
exercises.
She spent hours distorting her face, and taking photos
to mark her progress. But despite the difference, . she yearned for
something more drastic
Before she hit her 40s, Linda was never
concerned about aging, but as the years started leaving tracks on her
skin, she suddenly felt that her face no longer matched her effervescent
personality.
"If l tried to crack a joke, I failed to
get a reaction; they were probably thinking; 'Oh look at that old woman
trying to tell a joke' I am not a hard person, but my face looked stern."
Her
decision was sealed during the wedding of her sister,. who is 10 years
younger . "One of her friends, who I had never met before, was standing next to me and asked: 'Are you Debbie's mum?' I wanted to slap her. When
I said I was her sister, she replied; ': Oh, are you a lot older?' I just
wanted to end the conversation before I got extremely cross, or I would
have embarrassed her," she recalls.
That was the final straw, and
six months later, against the wishes of her husband Mike and her mother in
law, who felt she should age gracefully, Linda went ahead and booked
herself a neck and face lift.
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