Mama’s Lipstick

It’s been six years now since my beloved mother and best friend has passed on. So many memories flashed before me of all the wonderful years we shared. For some reason one in particular chooses to reoccur quite frequently.

 It was just a few days after my mother had passed and I was with my family cleaning out the small apartment she had shared with my father. The apartment was full of treasures from jewelry to common home decor. There were plenty of hands to help and I had claimed the small bathroom as my territory. Scouring through her bathroom drawers I found an entire drawer filled with tubes of her favorite lipstick. She loved Revlon brand and only wore two specific shades. When she found them in her color, she stocked up. Well, there must have been at least ten tubes of her color and various tubes of Revlon gloss; some were unopened with the seal intact. I sat on the floor of the bathroom and managed to open one of the tubes that was most likely the last one she had used. I attempted to apply the lipstick to my trembling lips. This was the closest I would ever be to my mother at this point. I quickly gathered up the remaining supply; it was like my cache of gold. 

Even after six years I still have the lipstick. I have been using the unopened lip gloss for sometime now. I’ve already gone through one tube. It’s a pink glittery shade. Yes, she loved pink. I still have a few of the opened tubes. I do use them, but only on very special occasions. It has been one of my most treasured items I have from her. Every time the lipstick touches my lips I feel as though I get a kiss from her. The texture is a bit drier than it was a few years ago and some of the tubes are nearing the very bottom. I am using them sparingly and will never let them run out. Among the many valuables I have from her, these simple inexpensive items mean more to me than anything.

I have often wondered when the time comes, as my daughters rummage through my cosmetic drawer, if they will pitch all of it in the rubbish bin or ponder to realize what a treasure this really is?