Eulogy for a Shirt

       (clears throat) Thank you all for coming here today. I understand that this is not something most people would do. It means the world to me that you are here to help me through this.
      (dabs at eyes) Today I am celebrating and remembering the faithful service rendered to me by a certain red Shasta Bible College T-shirt. I never would have thought that a shirt could become so much a part of my everyday life. Just seeing it brings back memories, both sad and joyful.
       I wore this shirt one morning when I got up early to watch the sunrise and be with God.
       I wore this shirt during a late night walk with Kelsey around the quad.
       I wore this shirt for Monday work details, when I carried diaper clad children on my back, or raked up rotting jambos, or told long romantic stories to the 8th grade girls as we bleached the library's shelves.
      I wore this shirt when I was happy. Sometimes it made me happy just to wear it.
      I wore it on hikes in the jungle with my dog, Ami.
      I wore it inside out the summer we repainted our little house above the generator.
      I wore it the night our class did that skit about all the senior girls being in love with Timmons.
      I wore it on rainy days when we all stayed inside making hot chocolate and lemon grass tea, and listening to Focus on the Family Radio Theatre productions.
      I wore this shirt when I was sad. Sometimes I get sad looking at it.
      I wore it on the last day of my senior year camping trip when Roz and I sat underneath a table on top of the launch talking about life, music, and churrasco, while the grooves of the launch floor imprinted a crisscrossing pattern onto our skin.
     I wore it the day Kalli and I made dipping candles.
     I wore it all four years of high school.
     I wore it during our epic weekend futsal games when we played so long and so hard that my shirt turned dark red with sweat.
     I wore it in the mornings when I would get up to go practice piano in the Chapel.
     I wore it during those late nights when Grace and I would stay up talking by battery light in the living room.
    This shirt has served me well, and I am very sad that it must be retired. I am grateful, though, for the chance I had to make memories with it. I am going to miss it very much.
   
 

Comments

  1. LindaSeptember 27, 2011 at 1:56 PM

    Beautiful, Rachel! SO many memories!

    Linda

    ReplyDelete
  2. Jonathan BrookeSeptember 30, 2011 at 9:46 PM

    I removed my hat to read this. I have never seen such devotion for a shirt. I certainly don't have a record like this for any of my shirts, and not near as diverse. It's interesting how different people remember different things for different reasons.

    ReplyDelete

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