50 Over 50 and Fabulous Project Beauty Photography Interview

Irene (The Beauty Photographer):

Let’s start by just telling me who you are, where you're from, how old you are now and what you do.

Dee:

I'm Dee McGee, I'm from Vienna, Virginia, and I'm 67 years old. I'm retired. I had many different careers over my life. Right now, I'm just working part time and looking forward to the next phase of my life.

Irene (The Boudoir Photographer):

What were some of your different careers?

Dee:

I was in HR for 29 years with a federal agency in the intelligence community. When I retired, after 30 years, I opened a gift shop. I had great fun doing it. I got a little bored with it later, and I decided I needed to do something else. So I went to work for IBM as a consultant, working in federal agencies. Then I went to work for an investigative service as a program manager, which I had never done. My favorite job was six years within a career transition outplacement company in Houston, Texas. So I did every aspect of career counseling, and I even became their executive vice president. Then I went to Mantech, which is a cyber company. I didn't know anything about cyber technology at the time, but I was a capture manager and my role was to win government contracts. It was creative, it was strategic and I loved it.

And now I've decided to scale back because I'm pushing 70. Now, I work for Raytheon, and I'm a federal contractor. What I'm doing now is Freedom of Information Act work.

I've always worked my entire life. But I think in the future, I'm going to do some fun things. I'd love to work at a furniture store, new age bookstore, sell crystals or something. I just want to have fun for the next 20 years and want to have a lot of fun!

Irene (The Beauty Photographer):

That's so fascinating. You've done so much in your life, you've experienced so much. What other things have you done on your bucket list?

Dee:

I want to travel on a whim like anywhere that I feel like going in a particular time. I do want to go to Sedona, I've never been there. I want to hike that red rock. I also want to go to Scotland. I was there once before and I just loved it. And I want to go to all the castles. So that's kind of on my list.

Irene (The Boudoir Photographer):

Well, you’ve just mentioned hiking. What hiking have you done?

Dee:

I was never a hiker, but since I've been going out with this gentleman that I've met, who is a hiker, he’s pushed me out of my comfort zone. We went to Harpers Ferry one day and he said, “Tomorrow we're going up that mountain”. And I did it. I got to the top, I had to stop to catch my breath every 10 minutes, but now that I've started walking and hiking, I've lost like 25 pounds. Last weekend, I was really proud of myself. At 67 years old, I climbed to the summit!

Irene (The Beauty Photographer):

Wow. Where was that?

Dee:

Shenandoah and it connects somehow with the Appalachian Trail. Hiking in Sedona is next on the bucket list.

Irene (The Boudoir Photographer):

So how do you think that your generation is perceived by other generations?

Dee:

Probably like I perceived older generations… they’re old, get off the road…  My nephew, who is 25… I sent him a little Facebook thing the other day because he didn’t include me in his Fantasy Football league, but he included my four brothers.  And I said, “What am I, Alpo?”  And he had to ask people, “What’s Alpo?”  And I realized they don’t make Alpo dog food the other day.  And they used to have a saying 100 years ago when I was young.  And he told my sister-in-law, “Well Tanta always says things that don’t make any sense.”  So I think other generations don't understand. I'm a Baby Boomer. The Millennials and the Gen Xers, it's a different world for them than it was for us. I mean, yes, we do technology, but it's not like they have today.  I talk about party lines and LPs and records, and they say, what’s that?  So yes, there’s a generation gap, and there always has been, and there always will be.

Irene (The Beauty Photographer):

Do you think that people who are 50 plus are represented in advertising?

Dee:

I think they're represented, if they have great bodies and they're celebrities, like Christie Brinkley, and they look great at 50, or Jane Seymour, but not so much the average person like myself.  Those of us who are fighting the age and getting the Botox, because you know, we’re old.  And it’s not exciting.  Probably in some things.. like Depends commercials… or insurance because you’re going to croak.  But I don’t see it mainstream, not at all.

Irene (The Boudoir Photographer):

Well, what made you decide to participate in the 50 over 50 and Fabulous project?

Dee:

Well, I got excited when I read about 50 over 50 and Fabulous, because now I'm doing things I never thought I would do. It's like a time in your life with such freedom. You're economically better off than you were when you were younger. And you can see the end in sight. And you just want to make the most of the time that you have. I want to pay attention now in my life to the physical, the emotional, the mental, the spiritual…, get my act all together before I go off to the great beyond. And I just thought it was such a cool thing that you were doing it. I thought women have so many stories to tell that we've probably never told.

Irene (The Beauty Photographer):

So what are you most excited about with the project at this moment?

Dee:

I think that I'm most excited because I've never taken the time to really even take photographs of myself. I've never had a professional photograph. I have nine nieces and nephews. I've always been really close to them, as I've never had children. I would like to leave them something to remember Tanta Dee. Tanta is Norwegian for aunt and German also. I just thought this is an opportunity for me to kind of tell my story. I'll leave for them a nice little packet and give it to them for Christmas.

Irene (The Boudoir Photographer):

What motivates you?

Dee:

What motivates me to get up in the morning is all the challenging things I couldn’t do before. I like to learn. I think that the greatest gift that I could probably give to myself or any of my former clients is the ability to adapt to change. Also to embrace new things and not be afraid. I always like to say I'd like to think that I could reinvent myself at will, in any situation, or circumstance, because that's what you have to do. You know, going through grief, you have to get through it to get through it. I was so happy that I still got on the other side of it. When my husband passed away, it was tough. But now I’ve got hopefully 20 or more years to go, and I just want them to be the best.

Irene (The Beauty Photographer):

How would you like people to describe you or see you?

Dee:

I think I would like people to see me as a smart, kind, engaging person who embraces life. I'd like them to say, that's her legacy.

I think a lot about how my husband died in my arms and the light was streaming on him on the bed. It was, you know, a blessing to witness somebody's death and to be able to go on. It makes your life more meaningful and helps you to get through the future. For me, it's all about the future. It's here now, but it's also about continuing. 

I was so grateful. It was a blessing for him, so he didn't suffer anymore. He was only in the hospice bed in our living room for less than two hours. He wanted some soup. I went out of the room and he says, “Wait”. That was his last word he said to me. I grabbed him and he just passed away.  It was that quick. It was meaningful and it kind of gave me sort of the strength to go on. Your life can be done like that. So you got to make the most of it.

Irene (The Boudoir Photographer):

So this is will be your legacy.

Dee:

That’s pretty much what brought me to this. It’s a fun time to do it, and it’s all about having fun.