Nostalgia in my closet

We must get a flyer on our door and/or a phone call once a week from some agency asking for old and used clothes. When we do have stuff for them, not much of it is mine. I keep telling myself that I'll wear that shirt again, or I'll fit into those pants (that used to be my favorite pair) again when I lose some weight, or I can't get rid of that T-shirt because of...whatever.

Well, I've recently accepted the fact that I won't wear certain shirts again, that some of those t-shirts have stains or holes or look like crap and while I might have at one time loved those jeans, getting into them again just ain't gonna happen. So I'm going to do a thorough cleansing of my closet. I'm going to be honest with myself while doing it and truly let go of a lot of stuff.

That being said, some things I won't get rid of. I was looking for a t-shirt to wear today for my daily 2 mile walk. As I was looking for one, I ran across a "Houston Rockets" t-shirt. Next to it was a "Houston Astros" t-shirt. And I reflected back on where they came from.....

When Exxon and Mobil merged back in 2000, I decided to move with my job from Houston to Dallas. It wasn't an easy decision for me, since I had basically lived in Houston my whole life and all my friends were there. And not just friends, but close friends. Really close friends. A few days before I left, they had a party for me. Not a big deal, just this small group of people that were like my family. Like the brothers and sisters that I never had. But more than just semi-siblings. My going away gifts were t-shirts from all of the Houston sports teams - Rockets, Aeros, Astros, Texans and even the Comets. At the time, I don't think I realised or expressed how perfect a gift that was. How touched I was, how much it meant to me to have a connection to "my" hometown teams. I still wear the Texans and Aeros shirts all the time. The Astros and Rockets not as much. And I'll admit now that I never wore the Comets one - I gave it to C.

I don't know whose idea it was - Scott's or Michael's or C's or T's. Maybe all of them. But to whomever came up with the idea and to them all, I don't think I ever told anyone how much those shirts meant to me. How much they still do. How much they always will.

They will be staying in my closet.