Do you look your age ?

Thank you. 😁 I think we all develop mental images of other boardsies from their posts but when we get to meet in person, we can be very surprised at how wrong those preconceptions are. I've had facial hair for most of my adult life. Goatee in my 20s and early 30s, then clean shaven and later a beard, now a 'tache.

I do wear glasses and also contacts but usually take my specs off or have the contacts in for photos. Still have a good, full head of hair as did my late Dad right up until he died at 75 in 2015. My partner who is 10 years older than me started going bald in his late 20s but he has a youthful face with very few lines for 59.

Obviously we are a gay couple and gay men do tend to look after themselves better than straight lads in terms of exercise, skincare and dress - but there are many exceptions to this cliché.

I turn 50 next March - where the feck did the past 20 years go? 😳😭 Life is indeed very short - so make the most of it!

I'd agree that having kids ages a person - the constant stress and worry must be ageing - most of my mates who became fathers in their 30s seemed to age a lot within a decade with the exception of one lad who always looked good and he still looks after himself well.

Our parents' generation dressed older and also smoked heavily - and many drank heavily, which aged them and sadly put many into an early grave. Middle-aged people in the West today don't look anywhere near as old as their parents did at their age, with some exceptions.

I well remember as a kid in the miserable 1980s how quite attractive women in their 30s dressed very frumpily. Old photos of Ireland from the 1970s and 80s will show women off all ages wearing frumpy headscarves and coats. I'd reckon the Catholic Taliban of the time instilled a deep sense of shame in looking one's best for women (and men) in those dark days. Endless children and very large families for Irish women was also very ageing. Looking good was probably considered "sinful" and "vain" and "having notions." 🙄

Genes also play a major part - some people are just blessed with good genes in terms of staying young looking for longer and can get away with vices whereas others just can't.