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Imagine two girls in a junior high school that had recently taken on uniforms. With outfits limited to navy blue, white, or forest green, color was something we longed for--to us, it brought beauty into life, it showed individuality, and in light of the new dress code, it allowed us to show some teenage rebellion (in a way we thought was big but wasn't really). So when my friend Emily and I noticed that we both loved the light shade of purploe stylish at the time, it became a regular topic of conversation. Several times, we talked about how the names people usually used to describe the color we liked didn't bring the right shade to mind. This color was a friendly color, the color of the perfect flower because of the way greenery complements it. Although it was a soft color, it could still leave a lovely impression; we felt like it was the perfect color for us, that in some way it belonged to us. No, "periwinkle" or "lavender" just didn't work. Our color needed a new name, something that would make it ours. What better way to accomplish the task than to name it after ourselves? Combining the names "Emily" and "Michelle" was easier said than done. "Emelle" was awkward and "Michelley" was just cheesy. But "Michemily" sounded right. And so the color became ours.
We wore michemily as often as we could--at school, hiding it under navy-blue jackets. It was amaying how michemily jewelry looked, and when I found a michemily pen, I had to write using that pen forever more after that until it ran out of ink.
Over the next few years, my room became michemily-themed. My wardrobe had a variety of styles of michemily shirts. Finally, my family started sipmly calling me "Michemily," and it turned into a perfect name for a user name.
Years passed. Emily and I didn't see each other often anymore, michemily no longer dominated my wardrobe, and my family stopped calling me "Michemily" as often. However, the color has never lost meaning with me. It is soft, versatile, and simply me.
P.S. It's about time I write this down. I'm not completely pleased with the result, but we've got a deadline for this month's write-away contest.
13 September 2008
Michemily
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So THAT'S what it means--I figured there had to be a story. Well written!
ReplyDeleteI vividly remember how much hell you put our parents through over the uniform thing. Seems funny now, but at the time they were at wits' end.
ReplyDeleteI hated the uniforms, too. I'm now a more colorful person because of that year. Thank you Oly Jr.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny you wrote that story. Just recently I was reminiscing about my Jr. high school days and I just cringe thinking about it. I was such a dork.
Amy-yeah, I was thinking what a small deal it was, too, but somehow it just became huge. Oh well.
ReplyDeleteMelissa-I still hate uniforms and I also still hate to think about junior high days. I think I could never date/marry someone who knew me then. That's just too awkward.
very cute! funny how you desperately miss things (like color) when you become limited by rules and regulations! uniforms are never fun :-)
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