What Holly Robinson Peete’s Mother Getting Tattooed At 82 Is Teaching Us About Embracing Life
If you're a millennial complaining about "getting old," with all due respect, get over yourself, and get into Miss Dolores Robinson.
Just last week, actress Holly Robinson Peete stopped by the Steve Harvey Show and revealed that her 82-year-old mother, Dolores, has been living her best life since the 70's. And when we say seventies, we don't mean the funkadelic era of James Brown and Boosty Collin — we mean the age.
According to her daughter Holly, not only has her mother been getting tattoos since 75 years old, Dolores even rocks a #GrampStamp (aka a "Grandma Tramp Stamp"), with her first tattoo experience being with her grandchildren:
Needless to say, Mama Robinson is living her best life. Holly told Steve:
"She's doing the most! She's got about seven [tattoos]. It started when she was 75, she said 'I wanna get a tattoo and I'm going to get one every year.' And now she's 81, so you do the math. And not just some little small one, but like, you know, a 'gramp' stamp!"
The former Hanging With Mr. Cooper actress went on to detail her mother's fearless approach to life, deeming Dolores an enthusiast of aging:
"I love her. My mom has embraced life, she is not age-phobic. She is the opposite of that. She'll tell you she's '81 and cute!'"
"But she is [81]. So I'm trying to get her to slow down. I'm trying to get her to wear one of those medical alert bracelets and necklaces."
One look at Dolores' social media, and you'll see that a medical ID bracelet is nowhere in her near future. The grandmother of four is not only present in the lives of her grandkids, she is also active as a companion to them too. Dolores enjoys dying her hair, body paint, and the occasional flirt-alert too.
#CougarGameStrong
What I admire most about Miss Dolores is that she doesn't view getting older as a dreadful graduation from youth, but rather, a celebration of more life. She is not simply surviving her last days on earth, so much as she is thriving in them. Not to mention, Dolores makes every woman complaining about their thirties look like toddlers throwing a #TerribleThirties tantrum.
Hearing Dolores' beautiful story couldn't have come at a better time. Today marks the one year anniversary since the death of one of my best friends. She was only 35. My friend passed away days before her birthday, and hours after we finished celebrating its forthcoming.
Before my friend's tragic death, I recall a time when I'd validate my age with my accomplishments, measuring my life's value to my successes — majority of which were career-oriented. But as I soon learned, "You can't kill yourself over a job that if you dropped dead, would replace you by the next shift."
These days, I measure the value of life simply off the fact that I am alive.
What's so dope about Dolores is that she is defying the limitations of ageism. In life, you may be "too young" to do some things, but you're never too old to do anything your body, mind, and heart is willing and able to do.
Health really is the ultimate wealth, and time truly is of the essence. If there is one thing we can take away from Mama Dolores is that you can't live your life to the fullest if your fear of it being over, takes over you.
Check out what else Holly had to say about her incredible mother in the video below.
A modest goddess who keeps it humble between mumbles. I'm a journalism graduate with a HERstory in digital media, print and radio. Roll the credits: Power 96, VH1, xoNecole, EBONY, SOHH. Deemed "Top 20 Women in Media" by Power 105. Bronx made me, Broward raised me.
ItGirl 100 Honors Black Women Who Create Culture & Put On For Their Cities
As they say, create the change you want to see in this world, besties. That’s why xoNecole linked up with Hyundai for the inaugural ItGirl 100 List, a celebration of 100 Genzennial women who aren’t afraid to pull up their own seats to the table. Across regions and industries, these women embody the essence of discovering self-value through purpose, honey! They're fierce, they’re ultra-creative, and we know they make their cities proud.
VIEW THE FULL ITGIRL 100 LIST HERE.
Don’t forget to also check out the ItGirl Directory, featuring 50 Black-woman-owned marketing and branding agencies, photographers and videographers, publicists, and more.
THE ITGIRL MEMO
I. An ItGirl puts on for her city and masters her self-worth through purpose.
II. An ItGirl celebrates all the things that make her unique.
III. An ItGirl empowers others to become the best versions of themselves.
IV. An ItGirl leads by example, inspiring others through her actions and integrity.
V. An ItGirl paves the way for authenticity and diversity in all aspects of life.
VI. An ItGirl uses the power of her voice to advocate for positive change in the world.
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Another season of Love Is Blind has come to a close, and almost two months later we’re still unpacking the drama that is Clay and AD. The finale, reunion, and post-interviews with Clay and AD after season six of Love Is Blind left millions of people wondering - why couldn’t AD see the signs? Clay told her he had a fear of marriage, his parents experienced infidelity, and he seemed to have many doubts about saying, "I do."
After changing his mind at the altar and hearing AD question why she feels like she’s never enough, I was finished watching. I didn’t need to hear anything else because, at that moment, I realized this wasn’t about Clay; this was about AD feeling inadequate before she ever met Clay.
If I’m honest, I don’t watch much dating television. TikTok keeps me updated with the clips that I need to see in order to be kept in the loop, but it’s difficult for me to watch an entire season of dating TV because seeing Black women settle for less and questioning their beauty is a trigger for me. In many ways, there were points in my life where I was AD, settling and ignoring red flags because I wanted to be loved.
Now, on the other side, it doesn’t feel good to see Black women lower their standards on national television. There have been many hot takes on this couple and who was in the wrong. Did Clay play in AD’s face or did she not listen to the truth of what he told her from day one? Was his reason for joining the show to promote his business and not to find the one?
We’ll never know the truth, but what we can do is learn tactics to better our self-worth. Founder and CEO of The Self Love Organization Denise Francis shared her expertise with xoNecole on what tangible steps to take to improve feelings of worthiness. “Self-love blooms in a garden where self-worth is planted, nourished, and whole. However, when your self-worth is challenged, displaced, or broken, it could be difficult to rebuild," Denise explains.
How To Rebuild Self-Worth
During her self-love coaching sessions, Denise likes to walk her clients through the cornerstones of rebuilding self-worth: grace and self-compassion. To her, self-worth is never lost, it's only displaced, so practicing self-compassion and giving yourself grace is a must. "We tend to place our self-worth in entities and people of ourselves such as relationship status, physical appearance, material possessions, social media followings, what others think of us, and more. Self-worth is not something to be measured by anyone or anything outside of ourselves because we all innately hold value and worth.
"Self-worth is not something to be measured by anyone or anything outside of ourselves because we all innately hold value and worth."
"When we place our value into people or things, we tend to feel that we are not enough, worth it, special, or important when relationship status, job titles, friendships, and physical appearances are lost or changed. We then tend to feel lost within ourselves because we’ve placed our value outside of ourselves. Using grace and compassion, you can rebuild your self-worth by returning home to who you are at your core," she concludes.
How To Return Home To Yourself
Denise advises taking a step back and using self-reflection through journaling by answering the following journaling prompts:
First, ask yourself, "What do you tend to attach your self-worth to and why?"
Is it your relationships, your job title, your finances, your appearance, etc.? Why do you think you place so much emphasis on external status? How does it make you feel when you are defining yourself through these entities and/or people outside of yourself?
Then, ask yourself, "Without these things, who am I?"
Once you have your answers, show yourself kindness, remove the shame, and, as Denise says, "Redefine yourself by detaching your value from the things and people you have no control over and no longer serve you. Challenge yourself to define yourself outside of titles and societal values."
"By returning home to your core, you find value in who you are as a person. You begin to find value in the way you love instead of your relationship status, your compassion instead of your popularity, your drive instead of your income/job title, and your heart instead of your physical appearance," she adds.
"By returning home to your core, you find value in who you are as a person."
"Be intentional with healing your self-worth by leaning into the people and things that nourish your core values. Surround yourself with the people who love and cherish you, they will always remind you just how valuable you truly are."
It all goes back to self-compassion and grace. As Denise explains, leading with those two things as you heal and rebuild your self-worth allows you to reduce negative self-talk that might come up for you. "This weakens thoughts like, 'I am not enough... why am I never enough?'" she shares, "And 'I don't deserve this while strengthening thoughts like 'I deserve better,' 'I am enough,' and 'I am worth it.'"
Denise continues, "Once you return home and remember the irreplaceable person you are, you can rebuild your self-worth by placing it back where it belongs. It belongs to you."
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Featured image by LaylaBird/Getty Images
