Stephanie Newton Books

I haven’t had a new picture made for my driver’s license since I moved to Florida ten years ago. Since my license got stolen, I had to go down to the DMV instead of ordering a new one online. And lucky me, I got a brand new photo on my brand new license. The only problem is that my face is a decade older than it was the last time I had one made.

I was thirty. I had a two year old and a five year old. I was younger then, but probably really tired, right? So now, ten years later, I don’t have bags under my eyes. Instead I have wrinkles and age spots (I can see them with my new contacts and now I’m wondering how long they’ve been there…and why I didn’t listen to my mother and wear more sunscreen!). You know, a couple of tea bags or some cold cucumbers could’ve cured the bags under my eyes. All the moisturizer in the world can’t make me look thirty again…

…but I wouldn’t trade this last decade for anything. My children have grown into these amazing teenagers, I decided what I wanted to be when I “grew up,” and while I never wanted to live in Florida, I’m pretty sure there’s something magical about the salty sea air and the sand between your toes. My husband and I are still figuring out this crazy thing called marriage (even after almost 20 years, I would never say marriage is boring!). There’s something pretty cool about looking back a decade, and being ten years older in a DMV photo is definitely not the downside.