Testimony: “Now that my children are adults, I live as if I am 30.”

Sylvie, 45, is a divorced sports coach with two children aged 20 and 27.

“My children left home three years ago and now I have no more constraints, no role to play. I feel 30 years old. I want to live and to experience many things. If I felt 45, there are many things that I would not do. For example, surfing, which I started five years ago, windsurfing, which I continue to practise, or backpacking in Mexico last year. Soon, a friend and I will be travelling around South Corsica on a scooter for five days as well. We do not know where we are going to sleep, but we don’t care! From time to time, I realise that I am 45 years old and that I should maybe calm down, but I forget it quickly.

Women of my age generally want to settle. They look for a certain quality of life and run away from the risky activities. As I had my children when I was young (18 years old for the first one), I am now doing all that I was not able to do then. Nevertheless, I am not afraid of aging. I am not so worried about wrinkles. I have friends my own age, even older, but I am especially surrounded by young people; we party and talk about life. Whether they are 20, 30 or 40 years old, I never act like someone who knows more about life. I am sometimes asked to give advice, at which point I notice that I am 45 years old. My children also remind me of my age. Recently, I spent 15 days at my son’s place, with my daughter, in Mexico. And I gained 10 years! My son introduced me respectfully to his friends, saying, ‘this is my mother’. Suddenly, I was 45! As soon as I left my children, I returned to my 30 year-old single woman’s life; I felt myself again. I am always me, but to different degrees.”

Marie Le Marois

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