Pink Soap
Woman in the Middle | December 5, 2013Hubby’s mother passed away on November 22nd. We are all still in shock I think. I am finding it difficult to go over to her house because she was there and then she wasn’t and her stuff is still everywhere, just as she left it. On Wednesday I was there to meet with a contractor and after he left I was trying to do a few things to move the process along, so to speak.
First I gathered some trash together as the next day was trash day. Then I decided to poke around in the bathroom. I thought if Mom in law had some unused soap or toothpaste this was a good time of year to gather that together for donating to local charities.
One thing you have to know about my Mom in law is she looked AMAZING for her age. The photo below was taken in February at her (I kid you not) 79th birthday. FYI, you ladies, that was her natural hair color. She didn’t have a gray hair until she was 70.
People who look that good work at it and Mom in law was always very put together, lipstick in place, clothes and accessories beautifully color coordinated and the whole nine yards. This taste for beauty carried over into other parts of her life as well. For example, when she wrapped a present it was always just so with beautifully coordinated bows and paper and tissue.
So, it was with a determined but hurting heart that I dug into the bathroom cabinets. I had noted that there was a bar of pink soap next to her sink, which coordinated nicely with her pink and maroon bathroom. Well, when I opened a bottom cabinet I saw a couple of bars of pink Dove Soap and then a couple more, and then a couple more! I realized she must have used Dove soap to wash her face and liked the color of the pink version.
Mom in law must have liked how the pink soap looked next to her sink a whole lot better than how the plain white soap looked and she bought a decade’s worth or so to make sure she didn’t run out of that pretty pink soap any time soon. That was so like her I had to laugh. I brought all the soap home with me and told my family about it. They had a chuckle, too.
I am still going to donate all of that pretty pink soap. It gives me great pleasure knowing that a down on their luck family will be enjoying it soon. But I wanted to write down the story of the pretty pink soap. It is a good memory.
I am so sorry for your loss. When my Mom passed, I found 20 lbs. of sugar and enough nightgowns to last for a century. It’s funny what different people collect.
I hate to think what my children will find….
Wow, she looks like she’s in her fifties in that photo!
Well, when I pass away, my family will find all varieties of tea; I think I have more than 1000 tea bags just waiting to be drunk.
Sounds like your Mom-in-Law was pretty inside and out and the pretty-in-pink memory is priceless!