I know I have mentioned in this blog before that I feel I live a charmed life...sometimes. Things just happen to me. Good things. I do not count on it happening all the time, but they naturally occur with frequency. I attribute it to my Mom, who has the ear of God, who is as devout a Catholic as ever lived, probably is a saint (three miracle rule)and prays fervently for her family.
I had this red velvet jacket way back in the 1970's that I loved and lived in. I must have worn that thing from 1972 till it fell apart in 1977. Amazing how you remember dates, isn't it. The above picture is 1975. I can not recall the name of anyone in that photo but the party was at Piff's house and those were some top notch Murray parties.
The jacket was in some ways my signature piece of clothing. The elbows became ragged. My Mom lovingly applied patched for me. The lining, which was ripped up, trashed and a disgrace (no one saw it when I had the jacket on!)suffered an unrecoverable blow during the Christmas holidays. Mom thought she would replace the lining as a surprise. A surprise alright! The jacket was not the same. It did not hang the same way, it bunched up under my arms, the holes were covered up. In other words, it was ruined. I could not wear it ever again. I think it remained in the back of a closet in my Mothers home for many years. Last year I even looked for it after including a mention of the jacket in an entry last year. Gone. Lost forever.
I love Goodwill, Salvation Army, Thrift stores. I find such great stuff for a fraction of the price they are worth. I look there first when I need something, see if someone else's trash ends up my treasure.
I was stunned. I could not believe it. My hands were methodically moving the jackets to the left as I plowed through the long row when I happened upon a red velvet jacket. I let my hand caress the red velvet on the sleeve before I had the nerve to pull it out.
There, waiting for me, was my old friend!
It seems impossible, but it is the exact jacket. I wore it for five years, I'd recognize it anywhere. This jacket has no label, nothing to indicate anything about it. Not a worn mark on it anywhere. Does not smell old, forgotten nor abandoned. It was just waiting for me to reclaim.
I'm not sure what it means, if it means anything at all. It just has made me so incredibly happy on this wet, rainy, lonely day.
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