A stitch in time

On Saturday, I caught the cleaning bug. I'm seldom never the person in the Hannigan home to prompt cleaning in any form, but for some reason the closet was really bothering me. It needed to be taken care of, with or without help from a spandex-clad Will Forte (Side note: I miss him on SNL).

So, I jumped in. I was ruthless, editing down my over crowded wardrobe with the same tenacity that I use when slicing my green pen through wayward commas and dangling modifiers. Lots of clothing items got the delete curly-q. And while I was flinging ages-old American Eagle T-shirts to the floor, (Seriously. Who needs that many solid-colored T-shirts? Why did I think they constituted as "stylish"? The world may never know.) I found myself getting a little nostalgic.

In the "give to Goodwill" pile were a lot of pieces I wore during big events, like both wedding showers,  my get-away dress from after our wedding, a dress I bought especially for our honeymoon ... with each item that was pulled from its hanger and sloppily folded into a bag was another memory. Scott's pile was no better. His after-wedding button up and engagement picture sweater were listed among the casualties.

Seven large shopping bags sat in the hallway, busting at the brim with memory-laced clothing, and I had to remind myself that these are just things and not those moments themselves. I can still remember holding Scott's hand tightly while we dashed to my car (which was now our car) as rice stung our arms and faces and nested in our hair and any exposed pockets without wearing that dress. (Side note: Planning your wedding? Don't do the rice thing. It hurts. Badly.) I can still admire our engagement pictures (overlooking that stupid hair elastic) without making Scott wear that sweater. Those moments are what the clothes were meant for, not the other way around.

Now our local Goodwill is well-stocked with lightly worn apparel with lots of good memories attached, and our closet is open and ready to be filled with new memories. I think it's time to go shopping.