Memories that can be worn

Do you have a piece of clothing that you refuse to get rid of? You might not even realize that you would never get rid of it, but it’s there.

I have my wedding dress, heirloomed, in my attic. Never going to get rid of it. I have one pair of pants that I can’t get rid of because I was skinny when I wore them and it is a good memory for me…you know, you have that pair in the back of your closet too. I hang onto shoes and purses (ahem…handbags).

But what is the thing that brings back more memories than anything else?

T-SHIRTS.

Look at how many I own:

I know, ridiculous. And that is what my closet looks like. Judge if you will, I don't care.

And here are a few of my favorite…

My Annie shirt. Two words. VERY COMFORTABLE.
1994 Camp Tahkodah shirt. I hang onto it because it is from the first summer that Matthew and I met. Awwwww.
This lovely airbrushed t-shirt is memorable to me because I got it with my friend, Clair. I would be surprised if she still has hers. It is also one of the most comfortable t-shirts that I have. Hideous, I know.
This t-shirt is my shirt from my first Race for the Cure run.November 3, 2002. I remember the race very well. I was going through a very growing time in my life. I was dating Matthew, but he was in Arkansas and I was in Tennessee. I spent a lot of time alone because I lived by myself and had no family close by. I loved my friends at school and had recently started going to a new church. It was out of character for me to sign up for something where I didn’t think I would know other participants, but I paid my money and showed up for the event. I was SO out of shape and had only planned on walking. Well, the competitive side of me came out and I attempted to jog some of it. I probably jogged 2 out of the 3.2 miles of the race. When I crossed the finish line, I loved it! I thought, hey, I could run a longer race than that. SOOOOO, I looked to find out when the Country Music ½ Marathon was going to be and decided to start training for it.

I was NOT a runner and had to start extraordinarily slow. Run 1 minute, walk 3 minutes, run 1 minute, walk 3 minutes. A few weeks later, run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes, run 3 minutes, walk 2 minutes. I kept building up from that until I was able to run 30 minutes without stopping.

I knew that I would need accountability, so that led me to asking some women I worked with to join me in my crazy endeavor. And I made some pretty amazing friendships because of all the miles we ran together. From November to April, we ran together, talked together, shared running injuries with each other, laughed together, prayed for each other, anticipated the run together. I loved those few months. I was getting fit, I was in love, I was planning a wedding, I was enjoying teaching, I was spiritually strong, I was very confident and happy. (I'm still most of those, but back then, it was the first time for me to be so spiritually strong, so confident, and so happy that it really sticks out in my mind.)

Here is the t-shirt from my first ½ marathon. NEVER. GOING. TO. GET. RID. OF. IT.

What about you? Any t-shirts that you refuse to get rid of, even though you don't wear them any longer? And no, I will not be making a quilt out of them. Don't even get me started on that.