I was too young to know the significance of it then. I held the vintage handheld mirror to my face. A stranger stared back at me. What used to be a smooth pale face was now occupied by wrinkles and sagging skin.

My eyelids sat on my eyes as if they were laden with exhaustion, and my lips were a thin line which molded into a permanent scowl.

Who was this woman? She was a woman who used to be so full of life and excitement. I looked like my mother and my grandmother, and my grandmother before her.

I placed the gold-plated mirror on my desk and looked up and peered ahead into my gold circular vanity mirror. My skin was smooth and pale. There were no wrinkles. My eyes were lively, yet a bit sad. I smiled weakly.

I didn’t know who the woman in this mirror was either. I looked down at the heirloom that aged me once again. I didn’t like what I saw in either reflection.

This handheld mirror was the last thing my mother gave to me before she died in my arms. She whispered her last words so quietly, “See what I see”.

I couldn’t bear to look in that mirror any longer. My future looked too much like hers.