There is a certain freedom that comes with age. Many older women I meet talk about the confidence and comfort that comes with each birthday. It often comes with a freedom to do and say whatever they think and truly not care about the opinions of others. I thought a lot about that freedom after my interview with Joan.

She was at SouthPark to plug the holiday collection of her jewelry line. She says she used to design some of the jewelry but now is too busy. At 73 she’s “busy” with weekly performances at a club in New York, traveling to do shows on weekends, writing her blog and column and whenever there’s an upcoming awards show she’s getting ready for her red carpet television moments. When I asked about retirement after 50 years of performing and entertaining she laughed. “Retire? To what? I love my business. This is what I’ve wanted since I was a child.” Freedom is knowing what you want and being able to do it.

I thought it was interesting that this woman who prides herself on being blunt and direct says she does not read reviews of her performances. Isn’t there something she could learn from critics? Her response…. “What are they going to say they don’t like what I’m saying in my act? Because what I’m saying in my act I’m saying because I love what I’m saying so I’m not going to change.”

There are those who would say Joan Rivers is doing anything but growing old gracefully. Her many plastic surgeries have been the butt of several jokes. She doesn’t regret any of them. She likes the way she looks and seems to prescribe to the mantra “to look good is to feel good”. Is she in denial? I don’t know but it is her right to think as she wants. This would be a good time to point out the one request we did receive from her publicist…no tight camera shots.

I walked away impressed more by what Joan Rivers realizes she is not free to do…and that is act unappreciative to her fans. She says she is frustrated by today’s stars who seemed annoyed with the public and ungrateful for what celebrity has given them. To choose a life as a celebreity she says means you know what to expect when you walk outside your home…if you don’t feel like being bothered Joan says don’t go out. She treated everyone in the store with such graciousness and seems to genuinely believe in a responsibility to fans.

One man brought a jacket he says he wore when he worked a Thanksgiving dinner at her home in BelAir. She was on her way out the door to rest before a scheduled autograph session an hour later but she stopped to sign the jacket and chat. He was thrilled.

I didn’t know what to expect from this interview but I came away thinking…at 73 she’s living her life the way she wants to, saying what she wants and enjoying it all…that’s freedom.