I’m old at heart and I love it

BLOGGER Joyce believes getting older should be seen as a positive – and it’s a false message telling people they can stay looking young.

Joyce, 83, lives in Glasgow with husband David, 81, and blogs about enjoying life, including sex as you age, at grandmawilliams.com.

She recently appeared on This Morning with Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield. She said Phillip had used an ageist term by describing her as “young at heart”, insisting she was “old at heart”.

Joyce said: “He was implying young is good and old is bad. But it’s the opposite. People are at their maximum peak of happiness between 73 and 76.

“It’s actually a very nice stage of life to get to and you should be very proud to have got there.

“I think it’s a false message for young people that you can stay young because everybody ages, so get used to it. It’s part of life, it’s normal,” she said. “And ageing is not a negative experience – but they see it as a negative.

“I think once you get over 70, if you talk about sexual attraction, I don’t think looks in the sense of perfect skin matters. What matters is the twinkle in your eye.

“Are you fun to be with? Are you enjoying life and does that come out in your face? And the wrinkles are part of that. They’re laughter lines if you’ve got life right.”

She added that she cares more about the twinkles than the wrinkles and doesn’t agree with airbrushing photos as she says this could make other older women feel negative and judged.

Joyce said: “I don’t want to airbrush my life experiences away. I want the twinkles to come out. A good photographer can make the twinkles come out not the wrinkles. But they don’t have to airbrush out the wrinkles – they can just make them look sparkly.”

● https://grandmawilliams.com/