Later that night, after dinner and my shower, I was standing in my bedroom, looking at myself in the full length mirror. I was 42 years old and hadn't even thought about sex in...ages. I didn't have any real desire to attract a man (and I worked almost exclusively with women), so it had never really occurred to me. Was I still attractive? Dylan seemed to think so.

My hair was long. Very long at the time, more than halfway down my back and very straight. Sometimes, like now, I had it in a long, loose ponytail. It was very dark brown, nearly black. My eyes were similar actually, such...