I miss my metabolism.

To which I could only add, "And collagen. I miss my metabolism and my collagen. 20, 30, hell 40-year-old me just did not appreciate it like she should've!"

Despite each of us having mothers who had complained about their sagging cheeks and middle-aged spreads when we were teenagers, we were each surprised by the changes to our own bodies over the last five years.

The one thought that never leaves my mind is how much my sister Wendy would've loved to be old and fat and wrinkly. She would've somehow missed the worst of it or made the best of it in a much better way than me — that was always her way. I can't believe after all these years I am still surprised she isn't here.

It wasn't meant to turn out like this. She was meant to beat it.