Is there anyone else out there that is having a hard time giving up their T-shirts? I have an entire under-bed storage container full of them. In the past I have worn them in the summertime to sweat in, do yard work, paint, show off my travels (I told you I liked attention and am full of pride) and sleep. I have narrowed my sleep shirts to two, plus bonafide night wear. One is a "one size fits all" shirt from Tirenia, Italy and the other is a sleep T from a visit to the American Museum of Art. It has pictures of First Lady Inauguration gowns on it. Comfy and it covers my bottom. So, where do I go from here. If I get the Spelling Bee Tee what do I do with it?
At one time I began cutting out the picture on the front of the tee and making a place mat out of it. I got to two. I have drawers full of place mats. Who wants to eat off of my old T shirts anyway? Some of them may be collectible, but who would want to collect them? When I mentioned that I had a KU championship T shirt from 1988 one person said "I'll bet that is a collector's item." Just when I was ready to give it up this comes up. I have used it to paint in, in the past. Now, as to the painting issue. If I don't paint in the T shirts, how do I keep from getting paint on my good clothes? I was painting my cabinet the other night in a long-sleeved mock turtle T and got paint on the sleeve. I was soaked to the elbow by the time I got the paint out. Do I modify my no T shirt policy to include painting? And which ones do I keep for that purpose?
Next dilemma. If I donate my T shirts to the local Methodist Thrift Shop am I going to see someone walking around town in my St. Louis Museum of Art Piccaso T shirt? I will know that that person hasn't been within a thousand miles of St. Louis and would never have been to that exhibition because they are too young. I got that T shirt when my husband and I went there for our anniversary celebration. It's a memory. They are all memories. How do we shelve our memories? Getting the shirts out and looking at them bring memories flooding back. What if I get Altzheimer's disease? Won't I need something to remind me of who I am?
I believe these are issues for many people, not just me. I think that is why we Americans have to rent storage units in which to keep our excess possessions. Wasn't it easier when there were work clothes, school clothes and church clothes, and NOTHING ELSE? I'll wait for some responses from my erudite readers before I continue in this vein. Now I know why my father would never allow me to complain that I had a headache. It was just too personal and inconvenient. OIWIWAOMW
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1 comment:
Don't throw the t-shirts away. Wear them while working on your many projects and save your grownup clothes for going out of the house/yard. You could take pictures of each shirt, write a memory about it and make a scrap book for t-shirt memories. That would be fun . . . then you can start getting rid of them gradually by finding appropriate homes for them one at a time (more scrapping memories) instead of wholesaling them to Goodwill. Maybe you could sell them on-line?
Ellen
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