SELF — SEPTEMBER 23 WRITING PROMPT

The Woman in the Mirror

Go look in a mirror. Describe what you see. Give us the details.

I searched my old photos for “mirror.” I had to laugh when this came up. Good hair day! What I see is me looking surprisingly great, considering it was about 105° in the shade. By all rights, my face should’ve been covered in beads of sweat; my hair should have been damp and bedraggled. The oppressive heat outdoors caused a brief power outage at the National Museum of Funeral History, which is where I stood when I took this photo. But their air conditioning, when the power was on, was a welcome and welcoming relief. Clearly, it saved me from melting like a saponified corpse.

I have no idea what I was looking at with such skepticism. Probably reading a plaque, but I can’t remember, now, what it said. Maybe I was worried one of those ceiling lights would fall on my head and turn me into an impromptu exhibit.

Memento mori. Remember, we all must die. That said, I bought one of their “Any day above ground is a good day” coffee mugs and some killer hot sauces from the gift shop. I found my dream car, too — what gorgeous wood paneling! — but they wouldn’t let me take it off the showroom floor. The NMFH is surprisingly not morbid for a funeral museum. Almost a celebration of a natural part of life.

I was playing squid games before it was cool.

Another mirror selfie. No duck lips! What I see is a woman recovering from spine surgery, wearing her favorite color: purple, and a giant squid hat won for her by her son at a carnival game in Galveston, who was just a little embarrassed when she wore it in public.

I see a woman with a good sense of humor.

I see a woman who learned that it doesn’t matter how you look in photos, life is to be lived, and your descendants would rather have too many silly photos of you looking bedraggled, overweight, face “unmade,” or being utterly ridiculous than to have none at all to remember you by. I know this because my grandmother was always dodging the camera, and I only have about two pictures of her.

Memento mori. But not today.

This is Day #23 of the 30-Day Writing Challenge by Nancy Blackman for Refresh the Soul. Previous days’ posts:

• A Tiny Note from the Universe
• These Are a Few of My Favorite Things
• A Most Meaningful Year
• When It Rains, It Pours
• One Deadline that Doesn’t Drive Me
• This is Beauty
• There Are Worse Things I Could Do
• Life’s Little Soundtrack
• What’s in a Name?
• If Money Were No Object
• Tears of a Mother
• Prey for the Predator
• Family by Birth and Choice
• Fear, Loss, and Detachment
• Citizen of the World
• South Dakota Haiku
• Ranked Choice Appreciation?
• Read These Writers
• Give as Good as You Get, Get as Good as You Give
• Until One is Committed
• To Dream the Impossible Dream

Holly Jahangiri is the author of Trockle ; A Puppy, Not a Guppy; and A New Leaf for Lyle. She draws inspiration from her family, from her own childhood adventures (some of which only happened in her overactive imagination), and from readers both young and young at heart. Visit her website at jahangiri.us and subscribe to her newsletter at https://hollyjahangiri.substack.com/