the future was a little more gray in her hair each year , never going braless because of the sag , becoming more careful about makeup ; the future was exercise classes at the ywca in bangor and shopping and taking denny to the first grade and janis to nursery school ; the future was new year 's eve parties and funny hats as her life rolled into the science-fictiony decade of the 1980s and also into a queer and almost unsuspected state - middle age .