A Woman's Handbag

On our trips to Europe the last two years, I’ve carried a compact purse with a shoulder strap, which holds everything I need. There’s a small front pocket with a flap that fits my digital camera perfectly. Inside there’s room to tightly stuff my passport, a package of Kleenex, a small bottle of hand sanitizer, a tube of lipstick, and an adequate supply of Smarties. There’s also a compartment for the most important things when visiting Europe: my debit card, a credit card, money, driver’s license, and my health card (not that the health card could do much for me over there.) All in all, it’s the best $5 clearance purchase I’ve ever made. Jay calls it “Granny’s Magic Purse” because the Smarties have come in handy on many excursions with our grandchildren—so much so that they think the purse holds a never ending supply.

In York, Helen procured a cute little handbag. Each morning in London, she greeted us at our hotel door with her purse slung over her shoulder. Each day as her 4 ½ year old frame became weary, Helen’s purse spent a good deal of time draped over Kim’s shoulder or stuffed down into another bag I often carried that housed things like a rain jacket, snacks, and a scarf.

One London evening as Helen pushed her handbag into Kim’s hands, Kim stated flatly, “Helen, what do you have in here?” and began to take out its contents as the three of us stood there next to the Thames under a setting sun. She lifted out 3 headbands, an assortment of small dolls—with accessories, the pink handle to Helen’s broken suitcase… At this point Kim tilted her head and gave me the look that speaks far more than words to anyone who’s ever been the mother of a little girl, and said, “This is ridiculous,” and tossed the handle in a nearby rubbish bin.

This event caused quite a stir until Helen was assured that she would receive a new, improved, and unbroken luggage piece before returning to Germany. She had been quite concerned over the small suitcase when we’d returned the rental car at the airport, glaring up at her dad and stating emphatically, “I can’t drive this thing because it’s broken, and you didn’t fix it!” (I guess she simply wanted to know where the handle was when he got around to it.)

But, for anyone to assume that Helen’s purse served no purpose, that was surely not the case. On the day that we wove ourselves into the bowels of Westminster Abbey’s elaborate and vast series of tombs, Helen and Breck sat patiently on the floor in several locations, playing with all sorts of items from Helen’s purse.

Most certainly, when J. K. Rawling developed her character Hermione in The Harry Potter series, she realized that second only to a magic wand is a woman’s handbag.