Paisley

The first paisley piece of clothing I ever owned was a pair of oversized men's pajamas from the thrift shop. My mother was not impressed, but I washed them THOROUGHLY and wore them all through my college years to study in the library and eat in the cafeteria. I was known on campus as the girl with the bright red lipstick... But I am sure people also whispered about those pajamas and how they were kind of ridiculous. Eventually the pajamas fell apart and I had to dispose of them in the dumpster behind the dorm... Sad day. To satisfy my paisley fix, I found an oversized paisley "mu-mu" that had giant black buttons with sparkly rhinestones at a yard sale. Again, I wore the dress until it was in shreds and we had to say good-bye. There has really not been much paisley in my life since then. It's been about 25 years, which is very strange because I really do like paisley... A lot. But after a 25 year hiatus with paisley, it is back. I have been talking about my Mid-life crisis to whoever will listen. Yesterday I trapped my friend Dana for a few minutes and I shared the concept of a portable thrift shop in an Airstream. "You could serve milk and Pepsi like Laverne and Shirley." Dana said. "Chocolate cokes," I was charged with enthusiasm, "and vanilla cokes!" I had a vision. I saw myself in a 1950's style aqua paisley apron. Note to self: keep eyes open for an apron like that. Then today I was deluged with paisley. Is it a sign? Of course it is. If you know me, you know I have to take it as one. I talked to my friend Barb, a graphic designer, who has great taste for how things look. She supports my portable store idea too, so I was "picking her brain" for input. "I think it would be nice to see how you would paint it." She said supportively. "I see color, but I want to honor the silver too." Then I added, "What do you see?" "Paisley." There it was again. Paisley! Note to self... The apron has got to be paisley. Aqua... Paisley. Later on today, my friend Java approached me. Now bear in mind, she has the name Java because she was a teen in the 1950's era and it was her nickname due to the fact that she loved coffee. She had her hands behind her back and she pulled out an apron and held it up in front of me. Guess what it looked like! You can see the pattern. It is obvious what pattern and color this apron was because you know that is just how things go for me sometimes. Call it coincidence. Call it intuition. Call it a sign... It doesn't matter. Java was holding an aqua colored paisley apron in her hands. It was actually reversible and had a little pocket on each side. "Pinky promise me that you won't take it if you don't like it. I just thought you might want this for some reason," she barely finished her sentence before I embraced her and tied it around my waist. "It was my mother's." Java was smiling, but she also had tears in her eyes. A gift of love! I didn't have any idea what to say. "I can't believe this! Yesterday I pictured an apron just like this. I put it out there and you show up today with exactly what I wanted? This is amazing." "I don't know why. It had been in storage for... 16 years. I just thought you should have it." "It's your mother. She has spoken. I would be honored to have this apron!" Within 20 minutes, hands shaking, I logged onto the Vermont Small Business Development web-site and signed up for a course in writing a business plan. Java's mother has spoken. Now all that remained on my list of affirmations was a child. Some random kid has to validate my idea. I thought that it happened at recess when a little girl (fairy) approached me with a "magic wand" (stick). "Just say your wish, and I will grant it. Anything!" "I want a 1958 Airstream." I said, knowing that this fairy didn't know what an Airstream was. I am superstitious however, and so it doesn't hurt to have a playground fairy placing wishes into the cosmos. "Tada! Done." If only it were that easy. Kid validation... Check... Nope. The true validation came later when a different little girl walked up to me at baseball practice. "Here!" She smiled as she handed me two pieces of aqua paisley fabric that she had cut off from the bottom of her pants. "You told me you liked this fabric awhile ago. Now you can have it to make a bag." Kids say the darnedest things. And aqua paisley no less... Not a bread crumb trail, but one clearly marked with paisley.