Do Eyelashes Grow Back???? A Tribute to Mom
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I had called my mom long distance and as soon as she picked up, I blurted out the frantic question, ‘Mom, do eyelashes grow back???’
Even though we lived 500 miles apart, my mom was a great source of information for me in my young adulthood.
Like ‘how do you make quiche?’
Or ‘how do you prune roses?’
Or ‘what’s the best setting to use to iron rayon?’
She always had great wisdom to impart to her only daughter. And she was always just a phone call away.
But on this particular day — back in 1979 — I needed facts.
I needed scientific information.
I needed a reliable resource.
You see, I was getting ready for my day. Putting my makeup on. Just like every other day. I was in front of the mirror. I had my eyelashes crimped in my eyelash curler. With my elbows leaning on the dresser…..
You see it coming right???
Yep. My elbow slipped. And in about one-third of a second it was done. I looked at the eyelash curler in my hand. All my lashes were there. Roots and all. Still clamped in the jaws of that thing.
I looked in the mirror. My right eye stared back at me. The lid was puffy. And bright pink. And all along the lash line — to my horror — was completely hairless!
My first thought was ‘Oh My Gosh!! Is this going to be permanent???’
And my very next thought was ‘I need to call Mom!’. Not only did I need to know whether or not I had to live forever with a disfigured eyelid but I needed the kind of caring and reassurance that only my mom could give when I was facing one of life’s challenges.
Mom was #1 on my speed-dial. Remember speed-dial???
‘So Mom, do eyelashes grow back?? I just pulled all mine out with my eyelash curler!!’
‘Oh no! I’m sorry! That must’ve really hurt…. You know your Grandmother singed all her eyelashes off once trying to light a cigarette. And they never did grow back’.
Hmm…. not helping….
‘Can you look it up in the encyclopedia?? I really need to know’.
‘Oh sure. Hang on I’ll go get it. Okay. Let’s see…. Eiffel Tower….. Epidemic….Equator…. Here it is — EYE. Eyeball….Eyebrow…. There’s nothing about eyelashes.… But I’m sure they probably will.’
‘Okay. Thanks for checking Mom. Love you.’
‘Love you too.’
And that was it.
There was no way to find out if my eyelashes would ever grow back. I had to wait and see. I had to be patient. I had to hope and pray. And watch every day for some sign of a lash to appear.
And when they did.
A few weeks later.
After all that waiting.
When the very tiniest nubs of hair sprouted from my eyelid.
Boy, was I relieved!
The other day just for the heck of it, I Googled ‘Do Eyelashes Grow Back’. And I got this — ‘The answer is yes…. eyelashes that are plucked or pulled out do grow back….’
Huh… Well that was easy….
But of course I already knew that they do. Because I lived it. 40 years ago.
And at that moment I started thinking about the way things used to be when life was simpler. When we weren’t constantly bombarded with information and social media.
When we didn’t have instant access to answers for every question.
When we didn’t have all the information in the world at our fingertips.
When we had to look stuff up in the encyclopedia to try to get our answers.
And I asked myself — do I miss those days when life had some mystery? When we had to wait for outcomes without knowing what those outcomes would be?
When we had to be patient? When we just had to wait and see?
HECK NO!! NOT AT ALL…..
But do I long for the days when I could ask my mom for her wisdom about things like quiche or roses or ironing?
When her loving reassurance that everything was going to be alright was only a speed-dial away??
E V E R Y D A Y…. W I T H A L L M Y H E A R T…
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As you can probably imagine, I don’t use the ‘crimp-style’ eyelash curlers any more.
This is what I use and it’s awesome!
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