"A PURPLE MARTINI" (Taken from an old blog of mine. June 21, 2005)
Swimming pools! Oh how I love them! The smell of Chlorine and suntan lotion is nothing short of a lovely dream for me. My fondest memories as a child are of me and my friend Tammy swimming and eating snow cones, cotton candy, or any treat that would rot our teeth out!
Today...I returned to this old love by going to a swimming pool with my sister. Not the same pool as younger years...but a pool with same smell and color. We laid our towels down and quickly noticed a larger woman with Down-Syndrome next to us. She smiled this bright smile and asked if we would watch her towel while she went for a swim. Of course we said yes. 20 minutes later...she returned with her same bright smile and her bright purple swimming suit! (Something I had not noticed before.) My sister asked her if she had a good swim? She said yes like a child…and then began a conversation that could have only been heaven sent!
We quickly learned of her boyfriend Jim...and how she is secretly engaged! The ring is hidden in a box with a lock and key...and she’s keeping it a secret! We learned that her favorite color was "purple" We learned of her friday night dates and how she wanted to buy a "purple" bikini so that she could show it off to her boyfriend (With this information, she did a little Shimmy dance.)
My sister and I began to have raised eyebrows as the information got more and more explicit! She emptied her bag and showed us her game boy that had a strawberry shortcake game! NICE! My kind of girl! And then her "purple" cd walkman which included such cds as "Tammy Wynette" and "Kid rock!" I had no response to that toxic mixture of music...but I forced the word "Kool" out of my mouth.
Then the classic moment came. She told us all about her Hawaiian birthday party and how she had champagne and a MARTINI! She said.."It made me feel goood.....It made me feel REALLY gooood!" By this time I had bitten a hole through my tongue and was more then delighted with this sweet and funny girl. When her dad came to pick her up....she stood and did a little twirl in the air....her purple suit flying around with her...and her Strawberry colored hair dancing in the sunlight.
At that moment, I thought, "She is magnificent! Life is beautiful to her!!" And I felt a little shame that I did not see the world as she saw it, that I don't talk to a few more strangers and brighten their lives and she had mine....She was a walking, purple, beautiful dream!
Current Mood: impressed
Current Music: Purple people eater/Put the lime in the coconut!
