68 Years Old, Tired of Looking Like a Soviet-Era Bus Conductor - Asheville, NC

This picture was taken exactly three years after surgery at a Christmas Party. Although conventional wisdom dictates that cosmetic surgery won't change your life, it changed mine. (Still haven't passed the road test, tho!)

None of my iPad efforts indicated results worthy of Dr. Harley, but I did manage to crop my brother out of this picture taken with a dedicated camera (not an app) just about a year after surgery. I'm looking so much better than the previous, pre-surgery year. Hope y'all agree!

After all my kvetching about not getting an appropriately gushing response from members of the public to my new look, I received an email from a friend (she didn't know about the ps) whom I hadn't seen for a while. I am excerpting this not to be boastful, but to demonstrate that sometimes we give up too soon: "It's been soooo long...I barely recognized you. You look fabulous! ...Whatever you're doing, keep doing it. It's working like gangbusters."
So I'm happy. It's one thing when I went through the rigors of surgery and recovery and saw a far more pleasing reflection in the mirror, but after time passed and so few people noticed, I begin to question my ability to see myself realistically and began to think that maybe I was operating out of a sense of self-delusion, only thinking I looked better because I didn't want to admit it was simply too late to make a difference, that I was doomed to resemble a Soviet-era bus conductor no matter how much weight I lost, no matter how much cosmetic surgery I had. If I have to take a long view, it is probably better that I saw this reaction in writing almost four months after surgery, because it's so much more meaningful to receive it after so much self-doubt.
I'm attaching some recent photos so people can see that I did take the advice of the "haters" here and cut my hair!