November 26, 2017. Madison, Mississippi. Objects.

Every object in a home has a history, usually known to only one person, the lady of the house.  I receive much pleasure by using those objects and remembering where they came from and how the object became part of the home.  The other evening we used Aunt Miriam's silver and enjoyed them.  Today when I went for a walk, I wore my blue jacket, which kept me warm.  I call it my walking jacket, even though it has never actually been mine.   I took it from Andrew's closet many years ago.

One Christmas when the boys were in high school, I gave the jacket to Andrew for Christmas.  The fabric is made of sweat pants material.  The jacket comes to the middle of my legs so I bought it because it would be long enough for Andrew.  It is navy blue and has buttons down the front and has no collar.  It also can be pulled tight at the bottom and around the waist.  And it has big pockets.  Andrew thanked me for the jacket and hung it in his closet.  And he never wore it.  Not ever.  When I asked about the jacket, he assured me that the jacket was fine and that he would certainly wear it.  But he never did.

One day, after he went to college, I needed a jacket that would cover my bottom when I went walking so I borrowed the blue jacket.   It is warm and comfortable but not heavy so the jacket got transferred to my coat closet. I have been wearing it for walks ever since and that was a long time ago.   The jacket is still not fancy or stylish, which is probably why Andrew would never wear it.  Now there is not another person in the world would ever know or care about that old blue jacket, but I know.  And that pleases me.