Over The Hill

Susan looked into the mirror, her enemy, the mirror. She stared back at herself thinking “Where did the time go? 50. Am I really 50?” She pulled at the bags under her eyes, attempting to wipe them away. She tucked away the gray hairs that were sticking out from behind her ears. She even went so far as to hold up her boobs so they didn’t look so sad and saggy. She sighed. Susan was having a hard time coping with her age. She had been so beautiful when she was younger. She never was scarce for a date. Now, now she had been married for 30 years, with a man who had aged just as much as she had. She loved him, but she missed the excitement of her youth. She had played sports, as had her husband. Now they could barely walk the dog together without achy hips a few hours later. She was not ready to face the day, yet she knew she had to go to work. This would not be fun.

“SURPRISE!” the entire office shouted as Susan walked through the door. She sighed. Somehow she knew something like this was going to happen. She forced a smile onto her face and braved her coworkers. Of course they were going to throw her a party, she was the oldest one in the office, so none of them knew the devastation of waking up knowing half your life was now gone. Susan made it through the party in one piece, and was actually able to enjoy her cake, despite the fact that is had a grave stone on it with the number 50 and a large “Over the Hill” written in black icing. Everyone’s lips had turned purple due to the black icing, which gave Susan something to chuckle at when some of the interns had arrived later in the day, staring at everyone with confusion.

The drive home was quiet. Susan was stuck in traffic, but it seemed to be calm traffic, no one was honking, or yelling, or playing loud music. It gave Susan time to think, and somehow she came to this thought “I wonder how much of my life I have spent in traffic”, and then looked her watch. She had been sitting in this specific spot for the last 2 minutes, and tried to do the math on if that’s 2 minutes per mile, for 5 days a week, for 15 years…she lost track. A song had come onto the radio that she had remembered from her teenage years. Of course they had to play this song today, right now, at this moment. She sang along with the words, remembering her junior prom of which she was sure this song had played. She had met her husband that night. He was a senior, she a junior. He had been the new kid in town; his parents had been stationed in our little town off the coast. He was a military brat, and so many kids were almost afraid of him, as if his father, who was in the army, had trained him to kill. He was handsome with a strong jaw line, dark hair, and loving brown eyes. That was their first date, and she would never forget it.

Susan pulled into her driveway and sat in the car for a few moments afterwards. How many times had she pulled into this driveway and sat here for a few moments? There was no way she could know. She grabbed her bag and walking inside. She set her purse down on the kitchen table like she had done a million times, and hung her keys on the key holder next to the door like she had done a million times. She turned to the fridge, to get ready for that nights dinner, list she had done millions of times. Yet this time, there was a rose sitting inside the fridge. A yellow note was attached to it that said “Meet me on the patio” in her husbands writing. It was just past dusk, so it wasn’t quite dark yet and the beautiful colors had not yet faded. She walked out onto the patio to find her husband, dressed in his black slacks with a blue button up shirt, the sleeves rolled up three quarters of the way. He was holding a dozen roses. She smiled at him and approached him with arms wide open, preparing to hug him. They embraced and he handed her the roses. “I would have gotten you 50 of them, but roses are damn expensive” he said jokingly and kissed her on the cheek. He had already prepared dinner, and they sat and ate their dinner by candlelight underneath their gazebo in the backyard. Once they had finished their dinner, and a few glasses of wine, Susan began to shiver. It was well into darkness now, and the candles did little to warm her. “I’ll just run inside to grab my sweater” she said as she began to stand. He grabbed her hand carefully, and coerced her to stay only a few more minutes. “Just a little longer, then we’ll go inside, I promise” he said with a charming smile. How could she resist that smile? She sat back down, and he tried to rub away her goose bumps. He stood up and walked towards a flower pot on the ledge and pulled something from behind it. Susan struggled to see what it was, but the light was too dim to make it out. Then, he dropped to one knee, pulled a jewelry box out from behind his back, and lifted the top. It was a beautiful diamond ring. It sparkled in the candlelight and danced in his dark eyes. “Susan” he began, “You are the most beautiful, amazing woman I have ever met. 30 years ago I asked you to be my wife. We were young, and maybe a little stupid, but now, now that we are both older and wiser, I want you to know that I still want to spend the rest of my life with you. We can take this journey over the hill together. Will you do me the honor of renewing our vows?” Tears streamed down Susan’s face. It was all she could do was cry. No words came to her mouth, so she pulled her husband close to her and kissed him. His taste and caress was enough to bring her voice back to life, and she was able to whisper a loving “yes” into his ear, followed by “I love you.”