I noticed my first gray hair at age 21, and I remember laughing and thinking, well, I'm truly an adult now. My mom's side of the family (Italian) all went gray early, and most of them colored their hair until the day they died. Because of course an 85-year-old woman has naturally dark brown hair, right?

When I started dating my now-husband, I was 22. I remember asking him if he cared whether or not I dyed my hair (he was already half gray at 29). His wise words, after reminding me that it was my head and my hair to decide what I wanted to do about it: "It's not going to be fully gray for a lot of years no matter what, so why not enjoy hair that's always changing?" That gave me confidence and a really healthy attitude about my hair color.

I can't tell you how many people compliment my hair and (of course) tell me how theirs would never look that good, etc.—all the reasons you've heard. I love the silver it's become!