Wordful Wednesday: The Lady and the Mink

The box under the tree was huge, shiny and white, and topped with the most perfect red bow I'd ever seen. My sisters and I had been poking it gently for the last 30 minutes when my father walked in and announced that it wasn't for any of us. "That's a present for your mother," he declared with a broad smile.

My mother tortured us for another agonizing 10 minutes as she prepared her Christmas morning coffee before coming to even see the box. My sisters and I had lost all interest in our own presents as we walked around it, putting our ears close to see if we heard any rustling inside. If a baby elephant had poked its trunk out from under the lid, we wouldn't have been surprised.

When my mother finally opened her present, she pulled out something infinitely more exotic and exciting than a jungle animal. The lustrous black mink coat seemed to sparkle next to the Christmas tree. And when my mother draped it over her pajama clad shoulders, she was instantly transformed into a movie star. The coat moved with her, a midnight sea of texture. It was glamour personified, not that I could have articulated that as an 8-year old kid. Instead I just stared, open mouthed, desperate to surround myself with its soft fur.

I wasn't allowed to touch it beyond a quick pat with clean hands. The fur was whisked away to an isolated  closet and only worn on special occasions. My mother would appear like a goddess at the top of the stairs, her red high heeled shoes peeking out from the bottom of her mink coat. She would button it all the way up, framing her made up face with a bright ebony garland. With a quick peck on the top of our shampooed heads, she walked out the door, leaving us with the babysitter and the faint trace of her Anais Anais perfume.

For 30 years, I've been dreaming of owning a fur coat just like that one. No account of animal cruelty was powerful enough to erase my notion of a mink as the ultimate elegance for a woman. I wanted to feel its weight on my shoulders, to drape the flowing coat around me, and feel like a movie star, just for one night.

When I saw the ad in our local list serv, I thought it was a hoax. "My aunt died and left me her mink coat. I don't want it. It's yours for $50 obo." 24 hours later, the coat was in my hands. I haven't worn it out of the house, and I may never, but even when I'm wearing comfy socks and pajamas, it makes me feel like I'm walking the red carpet. Like a lady.

Happy Wordful, Five Minutes Wordless, and Way-back wednesday.

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