PINK SERIES

I had been in the hospital for almost a week. I felt completely raw, exposed, and a little bit of everything, except beautiful. No make up and no curling iron while everyone I knew had come to see me. I had not seen a mirror in almost a week. I didn’t realize how important it was to me that I felt beautiful, but I was consciously uncomfortable at times of how exposed I was. I couldn’t do anything about it so I just dealt with it, and would quickly become so delighted by my visitors and intrigued with the conversations, that I would forget for awhile. But I just never got over feeling like I was such a mess. Then Friday came, 6 days into my hospital stay, and a dear friend came to visit me. Denise came with a bag full of goodies, lots of those little things we take for granted, like having a real toothbrush and toothpaste, a hairbrush, and a bottle of lotion. Wow, it was so wonderful! Denise proceeded to pull out a razor, and then shaved my legs. In the midst of all that had gone on that week she took the time to recognize the little details, and it truly touched my heart. She validated all those desires I had to feel beautiful even in the midst of such great trauma; it would seem only frivolous and unnecessary to most.

I was a bit of a tomboy growing up. There were in fact more important things than make-up, hair, and painted nails. I certainly wasn’t one of those girls who liked pink, at least not since I was five. I’ve always considered pink to be a prissy color, a “girly girl” color, if you will. You couldn’t find a pink anything at my place.

Denise continued by giving me a pedicure, and yes, of course she used pink polish. It would change my view of pink forever. For the next two weeks I laid in that hospital bed and what stared back at me, peeking out from the end of my sheets, my pretty pink toes. It is funny to me how much delight I got from having pretty pink toes, but I realized that it helped to fulfill my desire for beauty. It was just a small touch, but as everyone I knew paraded in to see me lying there completely vulnerable and raw, it was the only beauty I had. It showed me that we all were created to long for, and desire to be beautiful. It isn’t just superficial, but those desires come from a longing created in the core of every human.

- Stephanie London

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