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On the odd occasion, when someone asks me if I’ve “had any work done,” I don’t really know what to say or feel. Flattered, because I presumably look younger or better than the average person my age? Or insulted, because my staggering beauty is clearly not natural? The truth is – and we’re going to be truthful here in the Mo to Go blogosphere – that I have not. Well, not really. Actually, I’ve had a lot of work done, but it’s mostly been covered by OHIP, so I don’t think it counts as elective cosmetic surgery. I’ve had breast reconstruction via a skin and tissue transplant from my back, and a deviated septum straightened, all courtesy of our health care system. I did have a tummy tuck (after two C-sections). Oh, and I had to have my earlobes done when one of the piercings tore (and then it tore again – my earlobes are weak.) I have a lot of scars. I like to think of myself as a middle aged lady pirate.

I have not done anything to my face. Wait, hold up, yes I have. I’ve had my eyebrows microbladed, which is like a semi permanent kind of tattooing. And I’ve been getting Botox injections for over a decade, mostly to get rid of the vertical frown lines between my tattooed eyebrows. This way, instead of looking grumpy all the time, I just look mildly surprised.

I don’t have anything against cosmetic surgery. Many of my friends and most of my colleagues have had something done. Most of them look really good, some less so. (A word to the wise: there’s no such thing as good lip enhancement. At best, you look like a carp.) I have considered it myself, I’ll admit. It’s not easy to have your face plastered on billboards and bus shelters with every laugh line on display. What were dimples are now crevasses. But John is deeply opposed to it, saying he doesn’t ever want me to change the face he loves so much. I know, he’s adorable. “Why tell him?” asked a friend, who’s had more nips than a fly fisherman. Well, because we don’t have that kind of relationship. And I can’t just go away and come back with a new face, can I? “Hi honey! How was South Korea? I missed you! You look … different”.

Anyway, either George Orwell or Coco Chanel said “At 50, everyone gets the face he or she deserves”. Whether they paid for it or not. Let’s all be happy with what we deserve.

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