Do any of your friends have an outfit you just love? No, not to
borrow so you can wear it, but an outfit you just love seeing
them in. My friend Jenny does, or that is, she did. But, a few
days ago she sent the last part of it into the trash heap of
times gone by.
We all have a time in our lives when we open the closet door
and discover Filenes Basement is having a tag sale right smack
dab in the middle of our bedrooms. Now, that may bother some people,
including your mother. Not Jenny, though. A couple of days ago when her closet exploded she just though, "Hmmmm, looks like it's time
for a new closet."
Now her husband, Brian, has about as much of a chance building anything
constructive as Fiji has is winning a gold metal at the Olympics -- in ice
hockey! He told her in a loving and threatening voice "get rid of everything!"
(Also using a few choice adjectives.) He relented to Jenny chucking everything
that didn't fit anymore.
The following Saturday, Jenny had her task all set out for her. Brian left
some trash bags in front of the closet, jotted down the numbers for
Goodwill and the Salvation Army and taped them to the closet door. Then he
and their sons, Nathan, and Noah booked and took off for a father-son
Saturday.
Jenny sat alone and without escape -- Brian took the keys to the van with
him.
With nowhere else to go, (and no way to get there even if she did),
Jenny dug in. She trashed all the clothes that had gone out of style,
gotten too snug, or had just become plain tacky. (There wasn't anything
that had gotten too big, a thought Jenny didn't particularly like as she
sorted through her clothing menagerie, nor when I asked about it when we
got together recently.)
Jenny got rid of memories in the form of shoes and boots, skirts,
blouses, dresses, and jackets. She was merciless in her assault, even
trashing clothing that fit even if part of its matching ensemble found its
way into the charity bags. On the top shelf, in boxes on the floor, in all
the corners -- She tore through like the dogs at feeding time at the puppy
farm. She even getting rid of some of Brian's things she didn't like and had not seen him wear in a long time. (Of course, she didn't tell
Brian about that when he and the boys came home, and he complimented her
on the great job she did.)
I
sent some clothing to the Salvation Army not too long ago, and after I
did, I started to look at old photographs. I hesitate to mention that for
fear of have more than a few strange looks tossed my way. I'm not even
sure why the two events are connected, but I do know that I am not alone
in my penchant for having strange things and events spark the nostalgia in
me and not alone in having a propensity for hanging on much too long to
things.
The
pictures showed me wearing the clothes I just chucked. I smiled. I
remembered. I was relieved friends were not around to share in the
embarrassment of the moment.
A
writing assignment took me to Virginia recently and I stopped to see
Jenny. It seems as time goes on, the only time I do get to see her is when
I am on assignment in the Old Dominion. And, it seems as time goes on much
of the time we spend together involves reflective moments of one kind or
another. We must be getting old.
She
told me about her home alone Saturday and we shared a laugh as I told her
about my similar task. Seeing we put the subject of
clothes on the table, I asked her about the "hiking in the mountains or
walking by the river" outfit I like so much on her. Jenny hesitated then
tried to change the subject. She finally told me the sad story. The outfit
was gone.
Her
maroon corduroy pants were thread poor in the knees and had visible monkey
wear in the seat. She wore an off-white blouse with a gold, brown, red,
and green pattern on the shoulders and around the neck. She would wear in
outside her pants to try and hide the well worn seat of the
pants.
With the fall color scarf that sometimes complemented the outfit
and her long past her shoulders length blonde hair and green eyes, she
looked cute; pretty; sexy; comfortable!
It's sad to know that outfit of Jenny's is gone. What is even
sadder is I do not have one picture of her in it. The word today is
camera. If you don't have one, get one. Then, use it. Take pictures of the
places, times, and events around you and that shape your life and times. And, it would be a good idea to log your
thoughts and memories in a journal. They too should be saved. The pages of
the scrapbook of your mind are not easily shared as time fades its
pictures and distorts the playback features of sweet laughter turned to
tears.
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