Someone Else's Clothes
By Kacey, a dear friend that wanted to share some thoughts
Today I am wearing what is probably my favorite shirt. I’m not afraid to tell you that I purchased it from Goodwill - this is not a usual practice of mine but a few years back I was at Goodwill looking for some items for a costume when I saw this shirt and had to have it. It is a men’s, pastel pink, Ralph Lauren button down. When I purchased it, it looked barely worn and I would have thought it to be new had there not been one little marking. Inside of the shirt, written just below the bottom buttonhole is the name “Harwell M”.
I have often wondered who this Harwell M is/was and why he got rid of this shirt. I also wondered why his name would be written on the inside. I don’t know his story but I have created one for him. I believe he was an older man. The shirt is quite small for a man’s shirt, maybe Harwell had begun to shrink in his later years. Harwell was living in an assisted living facility where staff members laundered his clothes for him. Harwell, being slightly crotchety, was quite sensitive about his belongings being mixed in with the things of the other residents. To calm his worries, Harwell’s daughter had written his name in all of his clothes during a visit. This way he could be certain he wasn’t wearing anyone else’s shirt and they weren’t wearing his. After his death Harwell’s belongings were donated to Goodwill. Then I found Harwell M’s polo shirt...
The consideration of the past life of this shirt is especially poignant today. I received an e-mail this morning reminding me that today was my grandfather’s birthday. He passed away in 2007 but had he been alive today he would have been 100 years old. As I sat at my desk considering his later days, I realized that I had partially based Harwell’s story on my own grandfather. Though his name wasn’t written in his shirts, he did live his final days in an assisted living facility. After his death, his clothes too were taken to be donated. And somewhere out there someone is wearing Ernest M’s shirt. They will never know it but that shirt once clung to the back of a good man- an honest, decent, kind hearted man. Maybe some of his goodness will rub off on them. And maybe some of Harwell M’s will rub off on me.
By Kacey, a dear friend that wanted to share some thoughts
Today I am wearing what is probably my favorite shirt. I’m not afraid to tell you that I purchased it from Goodwill - this is not a usual practice of mine but a few years back I was at Goodwill looking for some items for a costume when I saw this shirt and had to have it. It is a men’s, pastel pink, Ralph Lauren button down. When I purchased it, it looked barely worn and I would have thought it to be new had there not been one little marking. Inside of the shirt, written just below the bottom buttonhole is the name “Harwell M”.
I have often wondered who this Harwell M is/was and why he got rid of this shirt. I also wondered why his name would be written on the inside. I don’t know his story but I have created one for him. I believe he was an older man. The shirt is quite small for a man’s shirt, maybe Harwell had begun to shrink in his later years. Harwell was living in an assisted living facility where staff members laundered his clothes for him. Harwell, being slightly crotchety, was quite sensitive about his belongings being mixed in with the things of the other residents. To calm his worries, Harwell’s daughter had written his name in all of his clothes during a visit. This way he could be certain he wasn’t wearing anyone else’s shirt and they weren’t wearing his. After his death Harwell’s belongings were donated to Goodwill. Then I found Harwell M’s polo shirt...
The consideration of the past life of this shirt is especially poignant today. I received an e-mail this morning reminding me that today was my grandfather’s birthday. He passed away in 2007 but had he been alive today he would have been 100 years old. As I sat at my desk considering his later days, I realized that I had partially based Harwell’s story on my own grandfather. Though his name wasn’t written in his shirts, he did live his final days in an assisted living facility. After his death, his clothes too were taken to be donated. And somewhere out there someone is wearing Ernest M’s shirt. They will never know it but that shirt once clung to the back of a good man- an honest, decent, kind hearted man. Maybe some of his goodness will rub off on them. And maybe some of Harwell M’s will rub off on me.
My mother, grandfather and uncle on the family farm in the late 50's
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