My Mom's Purse

This morning at church, Jed, my youngest took off all of my rings. He played with them, put them on all my fingers to see where they fit, and tried them on his own tiny hands. He even added Patrick's wedding ring to the collection so there would be a ring for each finger. This is not the first time Jed and I have gone through this boredom-busting ritual during “preaching” on Sunday morning.
This morning, unlike all the other times we have played this game, I thought of my own mother and her rings, her Bible and her purse - our own church pew moments.
I remember being enamored with my mom’s rings. To a six year old, your mother’s diamond engagement ring is like looking at the Hope Diamond on display. I sometimes played with her rings to pass the long hour of the Sunday morning worship service.
Another technique to keep from listening to the sermon was looking through Mom’s Bible. It was red leather, with her name embossed in gold on the front cover. Even then it was beginning to look worn from use. I loved to look at all the notes she had made in the margins, all the passages she had underlined. I didn’t understand them then, but now I know that it simply meant her Bible was well studied. It was usually full of cards, notes and other bits and pieces of paper. Glancing through all of these could occupy a good fifteen minutes. My mother is a “doodler”, so these were the most interesting pieces of paper to look at; the ones with big-eyed smiley faces and daisies all over them.
As much as I was entertained by her rings and her Bible, by far my favorite Sunday morning routine was looking through my mom’s purse. There was one guarantee regarding her purse, it would have Juicy Fruit chewing gum. This, of course, was the reason that I plundered through her things to begin with. On a good day, I could also find Luden’s cherry flavored cough drops. On an even better day, there would be fruit flavored Certs. On a bad day, the cough drops would be the yucky ones in the orange box, still Luden's brand however. I still buy Luden’s cough drops (never the yucky ones though). All I have to do is see the box and I am transported to the front row of Open Door Baptist Church, where my Daddy was Pastor. I do remember that she never had paper to draw on. I mean clean white paper. But, she did have pens and in a pinch and if I was bored enough, she could always produce the back of envelope or deposit slip.
Its funny to me how routines, so insignificant at the time, are so much a part of the people we become. I am blessed to be able to share a similar insignificant routine with my own son. Next Sunday, I think I will pack a better purse.