IT'S ALL INSIDE

Grandmother's pocket book held face powder in a paper box with a puff to put it on. It had a handkerchief, the 'dress up kind', and a small amount of change in a little coin purse with a see through window. She never had a lot of cash in her purse, nor did she have keys to the house or the car. Two reasons: She didn't drive nor did they ever lock their house. In the summer months she carried a white purse, in the winter; a black one. My favorite picture of her is of she, my Grandfather, and myself standing on a dock at a lake. She was holding her white pocket book to match her white summer sandals. She is 64 in the picture.

Mother's purse was more 'loaded', although I was never allowed to rummage through it, I liked to peek. Mother's purse had tissue instead of a hanker chief. She had something called a bill fold, not so much for money but for the checks she wrote for groceries, clothing, and 'other'. She always had red lipstick, (yes, Soozi), and Beeman's gum, of which you only got half a stick at a time. My favorite purse was a white one, made out of white nylon. It had a draw string for closure. My favorite story about it was when we went to the cities to watch the Prowler's baseball team in finals and she set her purse down in a melted grape slush. Oh my, it was so grape! She took it back home and washed it and all the grape came out!

All of us who have had children have had baby stuff and toys and 'silencers' in our purse. My favorite was a glop of keys I found and put together for Rachel to play with and a jar of peanut butter I seemed to carry for years for Bud. There was a billfold and check book and a pen I bought when Bud was in kindergarten and gave to Rachel when she graduated. It was a red ball point and Rachel used it to do her special papers. What is the brand with the two hearts on it? Is it Paper Mate?

Purse contents change over the years. I always wanted a camera small enough to carry in a purse. A wallet/card/picture holder with a few checks and a list of Tom's medication take up part of the purse. An address book which as phone numbers, birthday/anniversary dates, and emails, of course. A pen. A tape measure, (left over from the days of rummage sales--I graduated from measuring everything with a dollar bill which is 6 1/4 inches--four dollar bills and the waist measurement was Rachel's!) Lipstick, not red, (sorry Soozi). A mini brush for my mini hair. Glasses cleaner. A cell phone, rarely on, most often low battery. Real money. A piece of typing paper folded in sixths, turned and turned and notes written until the paper is full. Sunglasses. And on a good day, receipts line the bottom as if it were a robin's nest.

There was a lady who became an office manager at the DME company where I worked. I was hired before her by the owner. The new office manager stated she never who have hired me because my purse was messy. Well, reader's she came and went and I was still there until the serendipitous phone call.

Shake that purse--find those keys!

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