You are still! beautiful

It wasn’t our best day.

I stuck my right eyeball with a mascara wand and blinked back a brief but violent case of pink eye for most of the morning.

Then I walked to work in the rain.

“Um, Laura, you have a little…,” a kind co-worker gestured toward her cheek.

I checked the mirror in the employee bathroom and discovered black gobs of mascara ringing my gross pink eye and running down toward my lips. Nice.

My son Vinnie called and told me a delivery driver had backed into my beloved car as it was parked outside a coffee shop.

I looked outside the window near my desk and watched hail bounce off the sidewalk.

The chicken I intended to cook for dinner was still frozen solid when I got home to dress it.

And, someone stole my You Are Beautiful sign right out of our front yard.

I took a deep breath…and then I made a new sign.

You are still beautiful.

Because, you are. And poked eyes heal nicely, mascara globs, though stubborn, eventually wash away, slightly dented cars can be fixed, and the chicken will taste good tomorrow.

I hope the packing tape I wrapped around my sign helps protect it from the elements. But, if the ink runs, or someone else takes it, I’m going to make another one.

Shortly after I stuck my sign next to the tree in our front yard, I opened the side door to my house. I had intended to take my leftover materials to the recycling bin, but something near the porch railing caught my eye.

Inexplicably, someone left us a bag of honey bell oranges, the greatest citrus in the land.

So, thank you kind friend for the unexpected treat.

You are beautiful.

Still.