I've drawn Dolly Mamas for 25+ years-Then I became them all.

When I first started creating Dolly Mamas over 25 years ago, I was in my 30s.
Everything was exactly where it belonged.
My knees worked.
My eyesight worked.
And I could walk into a room and actually remember why I was there.

So when I drew women joking about chin hairs, readers, forgetfulness, and elastic waistbands… it was funny because none of it was happening to me.

I was merely an observer.

A very smug observer, apparently.

Fast forward 25 plus years and let me just say this:

Karma is a bitch!

Because somewhere along the way, I became every Dolly Mama I ever created.

Now when I walk into a room and forget why I’m there, I don’t panic anymore. I just stand there until my brain reloads like a slow internet connection from 1998.

And honestly?
Now I finally understand why women laughed so hard all those years ago.

Not because they were “old.”
Not because they were falling apart.
But because they recognized themselves.

That’s always been the magic of Dolly Mamas.

The laughter wasn’t really about aging.
It was about surviving life with your sense of humor mostly intact.

We change.
We grow.
We evolve.

We trade low-rise jeans for stretchy waistbands.

Our idea of a wild night changes from tequila shots and dancing on tables… to getting home before dark so we don’t have to drive at night.

And somehow, “self-care” becomes less about looking younger and more about surviving Costco without needing a nap afterward.

But the best parts?

The friendships.
The stories.
The ability to laugh at ourselves while everything slowly starts migrating south.

That part stays the same.

One of my older best-selling Dolly Mamas sayings was:

“I don’t want to brag… but I can still fit into the earrings I wore in high school.”

Back then, it was funny because women were all talking about not fitting into their clothes anymore.

Now, when I look at the old version of her in my Signature Collection and the revised version of her, it feels different somehow.

Not younger.
Not older.
Just… wiser.

Because the truth is, the women who bought Dolly Mamas in the beginning grew up right alongside me.

Some raised kids.
Some started over.
Some lost parents.
Some lost marriages.
Some found themselves again after years of taking care of everybody else first.

And somewhere between heartbreak, hot flashes, therapy, chin hairs, reinvention, and trying every collagen powder known to mankind…

We became the stories.

Honestly, I wouldn’t trade it.

Well…

Maybe for my original metabolism.
And some new brain cells.

But other than that?
I’ll take every version of us. ❤️