The Women I’ve Seen In New Mexico

I’ve visited New Mexico a handful of times in my life, and each time I’ve gone, there’s been an older woman who really stands out to me. She defines the whole trip for me. This could be called a tier list but they were all such interesting people that I don’t think that’s fair. They’re all 10/10 experiences. I’ll just give them emojis instead to try and show you the vibe I associate with each of them.

Sock Magic Woman: ♥️🐓☕️/⭐️. She worked at a sock store with hard-to-track hours. She was much older than me, maybe in her 60s, but she was lively and helpful and you could tell she loved her life so much. She said I reminded me of her, that I looked like how she used to when she was about my age. She had short, flat, grey hair, and it grounded me a moment to imagine her many years younger, with curling dark blonde hair down past her shoulders. I bought a blue pair of socks with chickens on them, and she admired them, and noted that her own were red with chickens. She went on to say she was the oldest of three siblings- like I was. I’m 200% convinced I met a kindred spirit that day, maybe a future version of myself. 10/10

Purple Woman: 💜👒👀/⭐️. She was sitting on the curb of the plaza as I walked by with my mom. I paid hardly any attention to her, she was a nobody for now, but I noticed she wore a purple-and-green flowered tank top and sat with a man who she seemed to know like a son. I walked past her and forgot her existence. On our way back from whatever store we had walked to, we passed the woman again. This time, she was ranting to the man, seemingly about another woman who had walked by recently, and had done something rude (?). Me and my mom stayed silent as we passed her, not wanting to get involved, but we almost broke down laughing as she yelled “CYANIDE IS YOUR BEST OPTION, YA LITTLE BITCH!”. I think about this a lot because it was such an unhinged response. Honestly one of the responses ever. 10/10

Rosary Woman: 🤍⛪️🧺/⭐️. This woman was at a church service I went to in Santa Fe with my family when I was about 9 years old. She sat in the pew right ahead of us, and she wore dark sunglasses, a gauzy kerchief on her head, and a white coat. Once the service was over, she turned to me specifically and held out her closed hand. She flipped it over and opened her palm to reveal a white-beaded rosary. I think I looked at her blankly, but she gestured for me to take it, and so I let her place it in my own palm as she told me “So you can pray to Jesus” with a smile. I thanked her and pocketed the rosary as I left the church with my family. I told my mom later that I didn’t like it, but it was nothing to do with the woman. It merely had to do with the metal of the chain (I don’t like metal on my skin; it’s too cold and… cold… so jewelry is a no and this rosary was not good for my senses). I think about how kind this woman was to give a young girl like me such a gift out of the blue. The only thing that doesn’t compute about this exchange is… why did she give the rosary? Was she looking to get rid of it? Did she just have a stash of them with her at all times so she could hand them out as she saw fit? Did she only give them to children? Did they all look the same? Mysterious and confusing. 10/10

All three of these encounters with these women have done wonders to my psyche, and I hope I remember them forever.

ps this^^ post was inspired by this post!! thank you @iidentifyasapotaato!!