Purple Pants and all

I never had the chance to spend time in the Senior Lounge with Carrie; I didn’t even really see her around school all that much. Yet, there are things about her that no one would ever be able to forget. For me, it was THE pants, her purple pants. You know the ones I'm talking about. I don’t know what they were made out of, pleather, vinyl, plastic, who knows, but she wore those things like they were a second skin. She matched those pants to almost every color and style of clothing possible.

I can remember thinking to myself, “How can someone wear purple pants? I mean, didn’t that go out of style in the 80’s?” That was the very first time I ever saw them. After awhile I noticed that these pants actually were a great reflection of who she was. Bright, cheerful, colorful, extremely comfortable, matching everything that you could put them with; they were the epitome of Carrie.

I even remember that on my Kairos, when we were supposed to be silently contemplating…something…Carrie took time to talk to me about life, religion, almost anything. We were repeatedly shushed by the lady in charge. That was when I asked her about her purple pants, because I just had to know. I asked her why she wore them, “Because why not wear the things you like, why put it off because someone else doesn’t?” This lead us to talking about how people are afraid to do things because of what others thought. I have to say that it was one of the coolest conversations I ever had, it was seriously the highlight of my Kairos.

So yeah, whenever I think of Carrie, I remember her sprawled out on the floor, somewhere, the lounge, the auditorium, but always wearing her purple pants. She lived life like it was…life. She lived it on her terms, the way she wanted too, purple pants and all.