“What?” I asked, embarrassed that she caught me off guard.
“If you let the color blend, here,” she said, pointing to her cheekbone.
I smiled and nodded. Truthfully, she didn’t need color to her skin, nor to her eyes and lips, she is as beautiful as ever. But I listen as she instructs me on how to properly put on makeup. The brush flows across her soft unmarked skin while her voice dances as she speaks.
Oh, I know what you are thinking, and yes, I know how to put make-up on. For crying out loud, I taught her how to put it on. But today I was learning how models
and movie stars acquire their youthful looks. Now THAT, I could use, and so I was listening earnestly to my makeup lesson..well, I was trying at least.
My daughter loves fashion, she loves books, she loves adventure, she is everything great about being young. She also is everything her generation exudes and more. She is strong headed, quick witted, and can muster up the best sailor’s mouth this side of the world. She loves passionately, angers quickly, and forgives honestly. And yet, as I watch her instruct me on the finer points of makeup artistry, I can only see the little girl I once helped dress in my old prom dresses. Eyes sparkling, laughter coming from her lip-sticked mouth, stumbling across the floor in my high heels, oh how that seemed like only yesterday. She was then an easy-going child with a smile a mile wide. She loved to giggle and pretend she was a princess….
But now I know there is much more to this woman in front of me. This woman is just that, a woman. She has a career, a condo, a dog, friends… a life that exists separate from me. She is not just beautiful on the outside, but is beautiful within. She has managed to achieve all the goals she set out to conquer… and yet, she still remains my baby girl.
“Are you watching?” she asks, through her smiling lips.
“Yessss!” I respond, not mentioning that I had been watching for twenty-four years.
“Now you try,” she instructed, handing me the brush.
I smile, taking the blusher from her hands.
“You know,” I begin, “Those movie stars and models have nothing on you.”
She rolls her eyes and shakes her head and laughs. “Well, I don’t know about that, mom. But I’m sure going to give them a run for their money!”
And I know she will…because she is smarter, more talented and of course, has the best make-up ever!!
