JULIE PAYNE

"I didn’t know I was in the "old category" until some brat waitress said, "Will that be all, dear?" She wouldn’t have called someone her own age "dear". That was really annoying. A friend of mine said he knew he was getting older when he was watching a rerun of "Dobie Gillis" and thinking, "hhhmmm, Dobie’s mom is kind cute".

That’s how age creeps up on you. Your mind sends out little messages. Like being attracted to men with bald spots and white ponytails, until one with lots of unruly dark hair sprints by. Sometimes I think, ‘I’m not so bad. I wouldn’t look old at all if I didn’t have the arthritis, the wrinkles and gray hair’.

There’s a logical flaw there that I prefer to ignore. It’s involves comfort control.

When I do Tai Chi I’m usually wearing a big old hat because I do it outdoors and want sun protection. For this photoshoot I wore nicer clothes and no glasses. I wanted the best shot at getting in the book!

My advice to younger women: Start learning Tai Chi, or any physical activity or sport, now. I waited until I was 45, and every time I do "Snake Creeps Down", I regret not having started at 15. One young woman, after her first day in class, was watching me put on my shoes, and said very earnestly, "you look much younger when you’re doing Tai Chi". I applied a little "Repulse The Monkey" (a Tai Chi move, not a perfume), and eagerly await the removal of her body cast."