“I’ve got underwear older than you.”
That’s what Ginny Bartels, a sales rep I worked with a couple decades ago who was in her sixties at the time, told a young man who just joined our company in the business office after he told her how old he was. Ginny laughed. The rest of us cringed a bit. It was an awkward moment.
I think of that situation every once in a while when I pull an item of clothing out of my closet and reflect on how old it is. When I tell my kids — whose ages now range from 19 to 23 — that the shirt I put on is older than them, their typical response is, “We can tell.”
So be it. I know what I like.
When the Christmas season arrives, I feel the need to pull out a certain red and green, plaid-pattern shirt that rests peacefully on a hanger in my closet for most of the year. I’m not sure when I bought this festive flannel, but I do see that I was wearing it in a family Christmas photo from 1998. Each Dec. 25, I shake the dust off this shirt and button it up. It’s a tradition, of sorts.
The colors are now fading, some of the buttons are starting to crumble, and the threads are becoming bare, but I just can’t get rid of it. Maybe it’s because I can personally relate to the aging process. Or maybe I am just sentimental. I don’t know. But I do know that this shirt feels good to wear every year, as it makes me feel festive.
I am guessing that many of you have something similar that you pull out of your closet each holiday season that you have had for many years. I only hope that it’s not your underwear.
Merry Christmas to you all, and thanks for reading.
President and Publisher Big Green Umbrella Media shane@dmcityview.com 515-953-4822, ext. 305 |