I was between the ages of 7-9, and up to that point, I had been the most pinkalicious girl anyone had ever met; Cotton candy pink, for clothes, shoes, books, doll clothes, bubble gum, etc., was my shade of preference. One day, while driving in our big white van with my mom, an aunt, and some girl cousins, everyone got talking about favorite colors. I said pink instinctively. Then I proceeded to hear my aunt say she liked purple, and a cousin just younger than me repeated, like a little parrot, what my aunt had said. There really wasn't anything else to the conversation, that I can recall, although I was changed forever.
Until that moment, I had never considered admiring or perhaps loving any other color. Then and there the seed of the love of all things purple was planted. I saw how some tints of purple were nearly pink. I began to notice how fabulous the Bubble Yum grape flavor tasted to me. All of a sudden, lilacs and lavender were beyond beautiful. Purple really came into sharp focus for me the summer I heard about The Purple Lady of Santa Maria
From then on, I was officially enchanted and never looked back.
