Give Me a Medal

I once read somewhere that "anyone who uses a stick of chapstick until the very end should be given a medal."

Let's face it. Chapstick is very lose-able. "If I had a dime for every chapstick I've called my own..." It falls out of your pocket, gets washed with your jeans, loses itself in the bottom of your purse, or often just mysteriously disappears. Chapstick is so elusive.

I spent much of high school as a Burt's Bees gal. I carried my Burt's Bees with me so much that I actually wore a hole in my pocket from carrying it around. Yet another way to lose your chapstick. Maybe I should switch up my jeans more often. In recent years, I'm more of a Whatever I Can Find gal.

Well, readers. Today I made it to the end of my current stick of chapstick. And unlike most chapsticks, this one has memories. You see, on June 11, 2010, I was on my way to Houston to celebrate the marriage of the Paynes. Not only did I forget my iPod for the long plane ride, but I also forgot my chapstick - which I think concerned me more. I needed my lips to look and feel good! And there's nothing that will make your lips dry out faster than being conscious of the fact that you have nothing with which to remoisturize them. So, I bit the bullet and purchased a stick of chapstick at Midway Airport for $5 (exaggeration...hah). It was a generic flavor, but you know how that generic flavor is so recognizable? It's that "red chapstick flavor." Not Burt's Bees. Not the tasteless white kind.

This chapstick was there for a weekend of wedding festivities and friendreunions. I used it on my way down to surprise friends in Nashville later that summer. It kept my lips moisturized through the chilly fall and start of winter. It travelled all the way to Namibia and back again. And today, it shall be tossed in the trash because I simply can't push my lips any farther down into it to get those last bits of moisture.

Alas, Trusty Generic Chapstick. You've been good to me. Here's to hoping I cherish every moment with my future chapsticks - from taking off their finicky plastic wrappings, to digging the last little bit of moisture out.