the lipstick ◉

virginia oliver fished for lobsters for 97 years, from age eight until a fall at 103. but the detail that won’t leave me alone is this: she wore lipstick and earrings every day she went out on the boat. when asked why, she said, “you never know who you are going to see.” and that’s it, isn’t it. that’s the whole thing about being alive. not the grand gestures but the quiet ones — the small dailyness of caring, of showing up ready, even when you’ve done the same thing ten thousand times and probably no one will notice. she wasn’t dressing for anyone in particular. she was just… present. prepared for the day to matter. i think there’s a version of giving up that looks like not bothering anymore, and a version of living that looks like putting on lipstick before dawn to haul traps alone on the water. she did the second one for nearly a century.