Here are some written excerpts from Dee's 50 Over 50 & Fabulous beauty photography interview!

Irene (Beauty Photographer):

Okay, so just go ahead and introduce yourself again.

Dee:

My name is Dee Magee for six more days and it's soon to be Dee Engel because I'm getting married on Saturday! I'm 67 years old. 

Irene (Boudoir Photographer):

Are there any myths that you would like to bust about the over 50s?

Dee:

Yes, probably that we're, you know, that we're old. We're too old to, you know, to have a life. I think we could be 50 and 50 plus, and be vibrant and healthy and have a lot of good years ahead of you.

Irene (Beauty Photographer):

What do you want men to know about women who are 50 Plus?

Dee:

That they can be vibrant, they can have sex lives! Even at 67. And then, you know, you're never too old to do what you want to do in life.

Irene (Boudoir Photographer):

What do you have on your horizon that you want to do?

Dee:

Oh, gosh, Marty, and I want to go camping. We want to get an RV and some kind of a pop up trailer and take off and go across the US. We want to go camping and sleep under the stars. We have so many things that we've talked about doing.

It's always been a dream of Marty's to do that. And it's always been a dream of mine to take a risk. I mean, to do something that's out of my comfort zone. Never in a million years did I think I would ever want to do that. But now I'm really looking forward to it. I never thought I wanted to hike up a mountain. So I mean, it's been a great year for me. I'm healthier now than I've been in, I would say the last 30 years probably. I'm pretty much at my prime right now. I'm a late bloomer.

Irene (Beauty Photographer):

 What do you want younger women to know about being 50 plus?

Dee:

If you're in your 50s, good for you. Enjoy it while you're in your 50s because when you hit that Medicare birthday, that's when you're gonna start feeling your age... at least that's when I started feeling my age. And then a year later, social security kicked in.

Life is really good in your 50s and your 60s. You'll never be as young as you are at this moment.

Irene (Boudoir Photographer):

 What do you want employers to know about women who are 50 Plus?

Dee:

I like to think that I work smarter now. Not harder. I love different careers. And I've come up and been really busy and killed myself in my youth, you know, working late at night and things like that. And now I just kind of enjoy my work, no meetings, I don't have to work with people I don't necessarily love. I just go to work, do my job, come home, get paid.

Irene (Beauty Photographer):

How did it feel to be photographed?

Dee:

It was fun. It was exhilarating! When I first started out I felt a little nervous but as I got into it, it's really cool!

Irene (Boudoir Photographer):

What do you feel when you look at the images from your 50 over 50 and Fabulous session?

Dee:

You know, it's so funny because when I look at these pictures I'm like, I really look better now than I probably looked in my 20s, 30s and 40s!

I think I really started aging around 50 and you know fighting it all away but really the best thing is that I just got healthy. I lost weight. I exercise, I eat better. I think that it's just kind of exhilarating.

Irene (Beauty Photographer):

So I take it that participating in the project was worth it?

Dee:

Absolutely! It was. It made me reevaluate who I am. What I am about, where I've been, where I'm going! It's a snapshot of, you know, a life well lived and I have a nice legacy to leave to my nieces and nephews, whether they want those photos or not! I won't care because I won't be around. 

Thank you, Irene, your work is absolutely phenomenal. 

Irene (Boudoir Photographer):

Well, who would you recommend this experience to?

Dee:

I would recommend it to any of my friends, you know, seriously. I mean, like, I have my dear friend, Patricia, and Sue. Once they see these pictures, I know they're gonna want to do this as well. So, I hope you do this again, because it will give even more women time to reevaluate who they are and what they're about.

“Love is not something you go out and look for. Love finds you.

And when it does, ready or not it will be the best thing to ever happen to you.”

-Dee