She had small creases when she smiled and crow’s feet in the corners of her eyes almost as if the wisdom and wonder of each year were dancing across her face and leaving tiny little footprints in its path.

Her skin had begun to stretch and soften ever so slightly. It felt velvety smooth but still held its shape quite well. She had stretch marks. Almost resembling tiger stripes. But they had faded so that you had to look really close to see them…but she knew they were there.

Each scar on her body (and there were many), was like a tattoo of the battles she had fought and won. “Battle-scars” in the truest sense of the word.

Her body held a tan quite nicely but also some of those same sunspots and freckles that come from overindulging in the Vitamin D rays.

Her hair surely had gray salt and peppered into it, but the highlights and hair dye of the past 20 years had covered it.

Her curls which she had once sought to straighten every day, were bouncing back to life and springing in time with each step she took.

She didn’t routinely wear makeup anymore. On special occasions maybe a swipe of mascara, some eyeliner and a dab of concealer but her cheeks were so naturally rosy she always looked a bit blushed.

She looked quite a bit younger than her 36 years but some of this was not nature’s doing. Instead, she owed her gratitude to the magical hands of a pair of reconstructive surgeons who were tasked with putting her back together after she had cracked like an egg from the sheer force of a trauma.

Her body frame was petite in all ways. Her muscles were strong and lean. Her breasts were small, but fit her body and she didn’t mind them. Her butt still had a nice curve to it and her thighs still gave her that angst she suffered from as a teenager even if they didn’t touch anymore. Some things just leave an imprint on our psyche no matter what age or how fit we are.

But she was beautiful. Because she was happy. And like any good gardener will tell you, if you feed and water something and give it sunlight it will grow and be healthy. And she was.

The inside of her was the best part. It was made of love, and laughter and a lot of other really GOOD STUFF.