Liz Taylor -- Even Cowgirls Get the Red Lipstick

Folks, for those of you old enough to remember, Liz looked great until she was about 63. Then, one after another she was hit with an unending battery of health woes--far too many to list, but three operations on her hips, a brain tumor and two broken backs are a start. She doesn't look like this at 76 because of drink or drugs or over-eating. Not all the money in the world can help when your health goes. And indeed she has had a lifetime of ailments, and excess. But she fought to put the latter behind her. She devoted, and still does when she can, a lot of time and the gift of her fame to fighting a terrible disease. It IS hard to see her like this, and as a fan of long-standing my first reaction is, "oh, no--please don't go out any more!" How incredibly insensitive is that, I then think. She is still alive, still looks to have some variety in her life. She doesn't want to hole up in her mansion so "people will remember me as I was." It takes a lot of courage to still show herself at this point--you think she doesn't know how she looks? (Her style choices have always been over-the-top. Nothing new there.) Younger people don't get--they just don't remember her even 15 years back. Older people, like myself, cringe a little and feel bad that she is no longer what she was, and is open to the harsh comments posted here. But we (the geezers, at least) have to get over it. Because Elizabeth Taylor sure has! "This is me, folks, don't look if you can't take it. There's always Turner Classic Movies, and my old films."

THAT'S NOT LIZ...................................