Ann Garvin (@AnnGarvin

Ann Garvin

27.2K posts

Ann Garvin

@AnnGarvin_

I think everything is funny and a little bit sad. USA Today Best Sellling Author & Founder of @tallpoppywriter

Come sit by me

Joined March 2009

Pinned
Ann Garvin
@AnnGarvin_
Apr 6, 2024
I am 62 years old, single, and recently, after watching “Love Actually” for the 17th time — toxic though it may be — I downloaded a dating app and started the arduous process of vetting men so that I, too, might actually find love. Again. (a thread)
6.1M
Ann Garvin
@AnnGarvin_
Apr 6, 2024
Replying to @AnnGarvin_
the message; I had walked into a date sure I had value, even though I’d lived long enough to tell a few tales like this one. Good for me. channel3000.com/madison-magazi… @madison_mag @TallPoppyWriter
Essay: Good For Me
From channel3000.com
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Ann Garvin
@AnnGarvin_
Apr 6, 2024
Replying to @AnnGarvin_
“You know, I’m fit and healthy with a lucrative job. I thought I’d be dating much younger women.” I hope you cringed when you read his response. I mean, he’d just broken the first rule of talking out loud: Know your audience. Public speaking guides aside, maybe you gasped at
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Ann Garvin
@AnnGarvin_
Apr 6, 2024
Replying to @AnnGarvin_
This brings me back to my date and how I responded. To recap, he said, “You know, I’m fit and healthy with a lucrative job. I thought I’d be dating much younger women.” I paused, looked at him and said, “And here you sit with someone your own age.”
291K
Ann Garvin
@AnnGarvin_
Apr 6, 2024
Replying to @AnnGarvin_
You might be thinking by now, no wonder you’re single. You’re prickly. What exactly would you like, Ann? I’ll tell you what I’d like. I’d like to be me, whoever I am, without my age being part of the conversation.
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Ann Garvin
@AnnGarvin_
Apr 6, 2024
Replying to @AnnGarvin_
getting any younger.” Ha! I wish I’d said that. But I hadn’t been ready for a battle against all odds, ageist remarks and a replay of history. And that’s on me. Instead, I pushed my chair back, stood, gave him a thin smile and walked away, congratulating myself for not getting
295K
Ann Garvin
@AnnGarvin_
Apr 6, 2024
Replying to @AnnGarvin_
our age, stage in life or accumulated wisdom — but because we, in some ways, like the man, have no idea how old we are. We move through the world making decisions as we always have, based on time, money and values. I don’t think I’ve ever thought, Ann, you’re
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Ann Garvin
@AnnGarvin_
Apr 6, 2024
Replying to @AnnGarvin_
62, no more “carpe diems” for you. Nor have I ever considered the age of a potential friend, collaborator or new acquaintance and wished them younger. What is weird is that I wasn’t ready for his appraisal. I was surprised by the swat at my value. How had I not been ready
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Ann Garvin
@AnnGarvin_
Apr 6, 2024
Replying to @AnnGarvin_
hubris, the rudeness, the ageism or his cluelessness that his devaluation hit both of us. I’ll tell you how I responded in a minute. In the half-second of dead air before I replied, I thought, You should be so lucky to date me or any of my friends of the same age. Not because of
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Ann Garvin
@AnnGarvin_
Apr 6, 2024
Replying to @AnnGarvin_
His eyes went wide when he realized the error of his statement. “No, no,” he said, putting his full stop sign hand out. “Not you,” he said. “I don’t mean you!” Then I pushed my chair back and said, “I don’t think you want to waste any more of your time here. You’re not
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Ann Garvin
@AnnGarvin_
Apr 6, 2024
Replying to @AnnGarvin_
Oh yeah. “Age and accomplishment” is a thing. The subtext urges readers to hurry and achieve because a finish line looms, and they are not talking about death as the ultimate “game over.” No, the endpoint they are referring to is whatever arbitrary age society deems us no longer
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Ann Garvin
@AnnGarvin_
Apr 6, 2024
Replying to @AnnGarvin_
interesting or notable. (Or, apparently, dateable.) Sure, there are times when age is celebrated in the media. When a debut author or new entrepreneur is over 50, their success and age are highlighted. Check out this old person, they achieved something!
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Ann Garvin
@AnnGarvin_
Apr 6, 2024
Replying to @AnnGarvin_
or it, had my defenses up or charged my stun gun (just kidding)? This cavalier assessment of a person’s value based on age is everywhere. When I go to the dentist and pick up a magazine featuring a top gun list of the latest 30-under-30 or 40-under-40, I’m reminded,
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Ann Garvin
@AnnGarvin_
Apr 6, 2024
Replying to @AnnGarvin_
whose anti-aging skin care regimen for her blemish-free face would rival an aesthetician’s. She knows she’s aging and she’ll have to be ready with a comeback if she ever finds herself sitting across from a person who wishes she hadn’t lived so long.
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