“I know it’s in here somewhere,” I told my friends who sat at the kitchen table eating popcorn. They had related their diamond digging debacle in Arkansas followed by a search for crystals, which prompted the dig in my purse.
I’ve carried a crystal for over two decades. A total stranger came up to me at a conference where I was speaking and said I looked troubled. I did. This was shortly after Jim’s cascade of cancers began. I didn’t explain the health issue, but this woman said the clear crystal with the green formation inside was a healing stone. Do I believe in that? Why not? I’ll take whatever help I can get.
But I couldn’t find the crystal that popcorn night. I had zippered compartments in my purse, but none revealed the gem, although I didn’t take things out and thoroughly search. I did today, and I found it.
There was a time I carried a purse that had an inner light. Just pushed the button and it lit up the insides of that bag so I could find anything, anytime. It was kind of fun, but the battery didn’t last long.
Like the organized person I am, for a while I carried a handbag that had interior slots for insurance cards, ID, credit cards. I liked that feature. Then a friend, on her deathbed, said she wanted me to have the new brown suede bag she’d bought in Italy. I carried it for over seven years until the zipper broke. I very recently replaced it with a bright red purse, since I like the cheerful color.
Long ago, my mom would change purses to match her shoes. White, brown, black. I was amazed she’d go to all that trouble. For me, getting a new purse was huge. It was something I had to break in and know what was in each compartment. It takes a lot of time to learn a new handbag, hence the reason I couldn’t find that crystal.
Everyone has different requirements for an ideal purse, and the purse she carries can tell a lot about a woman. What’s inside is even more important. I once saw a game show where the host picked contestants by asking audience members to dig out the oddest objects from their purses. Hey, that would make a good party game, and you’d learn more about your guests. A woman carries two mismatched socks? Interesting. A fake tarantula? Really? Forty-seven one-dollar bills? Hmmmm.
A requirement for my ideal purse is it must be big enough to hold a light paperback. I can’t carry a hardback in a bag or my right shoulder would give out. An iPad is too heavy. My phone is hefty, but it gets a space, and I sometimes read on it. Everything else must be light. I don’t carry a billfold in my purse, and I once embarrassed my sister at an upscale department store by whipping out a Ziplock baggie that held coins and folding money. She gave me a lightweight coin purse.
That healing crystal that I now know is in the side zippered compartment is no bigger than my index finger. It qualifies as a lightweight object. I’ll keep carrying it in my flaming red purse. Why not? Could come in handy at a party or a gameshow.
