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Once upon a time, I was four years old. I was not the most feminine little girl in the neighborhood, and I liked it that way. I had a favorite shirt. It was a tee shirt and it had thin red and dark blue horizontal stripes.
I wore that thing out.
I don't remember the first time someone asked me, "What is your favorite color, Mary?" I do know that when I was four, I not only had one favorite color; I had two:
Red and blue.
But not alone. I didn't like red by itself, or blue by itself. They always had to be together. I can remember being in Kindergarten and being told that it was time for a new box of crayons. We were handed out the 8 pack - primary colors plus black and brown. I'd open it up and immediately take out the red and blue crayons. Everything I had, or wanted, was red and blue... not red. Not blue. Red and blue
Once upon a time, I am 13 years old. "Hey Mary... what's your favorite color?" Without a blink of an eye:
"Brown." most of my surveyors scrunched up their noses, or stared at me in disbelief.
"EEEW... that's gross. My favorite color is pink." Hooray! I'm happy for you! While all of the other girls in Home Ec class chose flowery, girly materials for the first skirt we would ever make using the sewing machine, I came in with heavy, rough, brown denim. Wore that thing OUT. Man, I loved that skirt!
After I entered high school, I noticed that I would gravitate to all things cool... including colors. I liked greens, blues, and any mixture of the two. I took art classes -- as many as I was allowed to take. I even managed (somehow) to get my math credits completed in Junior year. My senior year was Sociology, Psychology, English, and the rest was ART! I don't think kids can do that, these days...
I would tell folks that green was my favorite after that, but I began using color as a means to describe my feelings. To most people, the color blue is a sad color. To have 'the blues' or to be sad and 'blue.' Not me. I saw blue as calming. Soothing and reassuring. Periwinkle (thank you, Binney & Smith) blue always -- ALWAYS -- takes me back to when I am a child. Snowy mornings, and evenings were complimented perfectly by the orange color of the lights from every lighted window. It was perfect: go ask the color wheel!
Today, I say that Periwinkle is my favorite color, but in all honesty, I love them all. I don't think I really have a favorite. Again, I tend to like colors in groups. I really like orange and purple together. I love orange and lime green, together. Funny, because while I still love red and blue, I no longer like them together. Whenever I see the two together, though, I am reminded of my beloved shirt.
So, what is my favorite color? Who knows. I will always refer to my box of Crayola's though. Sea Green. Forest Green. Mulberry. Raw Umber (discontinued to my dismay), and forever Periwinkle blue. Ask me again, tomorrow.
What's your favorite color? See? Not as easy to answer as you might think!
