Things You Can't Do

At 25 years old, there are plenty of things I haven't done. I haven't jumped out of a plane with or without a parachute, for example. I also haven't base jumped. I haven't had a driver's license, and I haven't punched anyone in the face. I haven't spent the night in a graveyard or slept with someone over the age of 35 or even planted my own tree.

But do you know what I have done?

I've worn pink eyeshadow.

This is the story of the pink eyeshadow, and how it came to be that I bought my sister a ... (I wanna call it a "thing" ...) ... wait. How about this? 

This is the story of how, and why I bought my sister pink eyeshadow.

Last Christmas, my little brother was dating a girl who was adorable, and wonderful, and totally the wrong girl for him. We had Christmas at my mom's house. Me, my older sister, my little brother, my mom, my sister's two sons, my husband and my little brother's girlfriend all crowded into my mommy's humble abode, tearing at wrapping paper, Rusty making shocked sounds because my husband bought me a Kindle, my husband making shocked sounds because I bought him a Ninja Turtles wall-hanging. When it came time for me to open my gift from my little brother's girlfriend, I shredded the paper to reveal an L.A. Colors eyeshadow palette. It had a dandelion color, blue, green, yellow, and pink. I sat there and thought to myself, "When am I ever gonna wear pink eyeshadow? It doesn't go with anything, it won't stand on its own against my brown eyes. Ugh." 

So, I took the little palette home and didn't touch it for about six months. I was busy not wearing makeup. I wore lighter shades of shadow, lined my eyes, and glued stars under my eyes. (I should go ahead and insert here that I work as a playground monitor at an elementary school).

My sister and I decided (I can't remember when) to have a weekly coffee date. We weren't particularly close as adolescents and young adults, but once I divorced my first husband, I realized that what I was feeling was the overwhelming need to be closer to my family, and so weekly coffee started happening. Well, one morning I decided to wear the pink eyeshadow on the outer corners of my eyes, and a nice gold on the inner corners. My sister said it looked good, so I kept wearing it.

One of the things she said to me, that stuck with me, was, "I can't wear pink eyeshadow." And all I wanted to know was WHY?! What makes you think you can't wear something as uproariously flamboyant as pink eyeshadow?