The Mirror Doesn't Lie, But It Doesn't Explain Either
You notice it in a photograph first. Not a bad angle, just the truth of it. A line that wasn't there at 22, a dullness that concealer no longer fully covers, a tiredness that eight hours of sleep hasn't touched in months. Your mother, in photos from her own twenties, looks somehow less worn. You wonder if you're imagining it. You're not.