#0118 | senescent faces

Submitted by Clare in Dunedin, New Zealand.

Here’s Clare’s story:

“I work in a knitwear shop where the customers are predominately little old ladies. They are gorgeous creatures with white wispy hair and twinkly eyes and so often I don’t realise they are in the shop for a couple of minutes because the clothing racks are taller than them.

Talking to these ladies is my favourite thing to do in the world; I learn so much. From everyday things, like how they prefer primrose pink to any other colour and they suppose it’s not really the fashion these days but with their years one needn’t truck with that sort of nonsense, to extraordinary things. One lady goes out every year on the anniversary of her husband’s death and buys something in his favourite colour, another was once a prima ballerina and now lives quietly with four cats but she still dreams of dancing on brilliantly-lit stages.

Little old ladies are, I think, the most extraordinary people to ever live.”