A Letter to All Purse Wearers

Dear Purse Wearers,

Tomorrow is National Handbag Day.  I would venture to guess that not many of you know this, as it is one of the more recent holidays to be created.  I’m not sure why on earth we would need a National Handbag Day, but it does bring to light a part of our culture that is worth noting.

Purses are an important part of a woman’s daily life.  All we need to do, is leave it somewhere and we realize the importance it holds.  I once left my purse in the food court during the Christmas shopping season at Park Meadows Mall in Denver a few years back. I do that kind of thing.  Upon realizing that it was missing my heart raced to about 300 beats per minute, until I found it at the service desk.  Phew!  Even this very morning, I told my three kids that whoever could find my purse, could get three boxes filled in on their chore chart.  I am paralyzed without my purse!

The other night, I went to see a play called, “Love, Loss and what I Wore.”  It was touching, hilarious and so true!  It addressed all the ideas of what we wear.  How all of us have stood in front of our closet full of clothes and exclaimed that we have, “nothing to wear.”  It highlighted the experience of buying your first bra.  Who doesn’t remember that traumatic experience?  I even remember the dressing room number I was in that day!  Then there was an extended piece on purses.  I was laughing so hard that I was crying, because it was so true.  We all start out with a new purse, adamantly determined to keep this one organized. But before long, it is strewn with receipts, caked on unchewed gum, a half unwrapped tampon, a bag of six peanuts from the last flight we took six months ago, kleenex that may or may not have been used, keys that go to nothing you are aware of and multiple lip products, half of which are missing the lid!

Purses can be an extention of us.  How is this item so important?  As we go to buy a purse, there is so much to consider.  Does it go over the shoulder, over the arm, across the body.  Is it a neutral color to match everything or is it whimsical?  Would it hold enough to pack for a three day trip, or would it just hold a phone, keys, chapstick, credit card and license?  What does this purse say about me?  The list goes on.

Even though purses are so important, I have always always been dumbfounded when I flip through Style magazine and see that the trending purses are in the neighborhood of $450. What?  (This is when I get a little self righteous.)  Who pays that much for a purse?  You could feed an orphanage for a year with that kind of money!!!  How are they calling a $90 purse, “A deal of the century?”  Oprah must be living a little different reality!  A deal of the century would be finding a cute purse for $3.99!  I would never spend that sort of money on a purse! I’m so holy! But then I realize.  I may not be spending money on expensive purses, but it’s not like I’m giving the money that I save on not buying expensive purses, away. (If you have a triple negative in a sentence, does that erase the double negative rule?)

So, tomorrow, I am using National Purse Day, to put my money where my mouth is.  My three kids have each chosen a purse.  It was hilarious to watch Spencer pick out a purse.  He loved this old lady looking purse.  Then we filled them with gloves, fun socks, eclectic sunglasses, a package of Kleenex and a Safeway gift card.    Now comes the the scary part!  Finding someone to give it to.  All of the sudden, I’m not sure that I will really do this, but I kinda think God might be calling me to step out a little and actually speak to a homeless person.  My kids are really excited about it.  I kinda thought that Spencer might not want to involve himself in anything purses, but he was the first to remind me that we need to fill purses tonight!  We’ll see how this goes, people!  Oh, and feel free to join me in my new National Handbag Day event.  I would love to hear about it!