My First and Only Hickey

I remember in high school there was always that person who would show off their hickey like a badge of honor. I was always grossed out by that, definitely not cool. I have always thought hickeys were for weird dysfunctional people who were just desperate for attention, even if it came in the form of ugly purple bruising.

Well today it is time for me to step off my high horse. I have my first hickey at 29 years old. I was given this mark of distinction by none other than my daughter. Here's how the hickey came to being...

I had just fed Miss Cordelia and we were walking around a store, waiting as my mother tried on some new clothes. She was particularly excited about these clothes because she was stepping outside of her style box (they were good finds by the way). I was looking at a display, a bit distracted I'll admit, when Cordelia bit down (toothlessly) on my shoulder. An employee of the store said, "She must be teething." I said something like, "People have been telling me she was teething for 6 months and still there's nothing there." All the while Cordelia was working her magic. When finally got a pacifier into her mouth there it was, my first hickey.

It isn't really that noticeable, but there it is purple and red. Even worse it kind of looks like I did it to myself. Who says you can't still be awkward at my age?