T-Shirt

photo credit: ajaedmond.com

This piece was written August 16, 2014.  Hope you'll enjoy!

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I smile at the very thought of it.  Like sunlight beaming in the kitchen window, making even the dust seem magical; or the smell of Dixies baking in the oven; or the feel of the water splash up on your legs as you walk along the beach.  The memories are warm, and affect the senses.

It was a simple shirt.  It made me smile.

I hadn’t thought that much about it.  It was a gift.  It has just been a t-shirt that reminded me of you.

Later, you told me it was your favorite.  And I smiled.

Even after you had worn it for a few years, you still loved it.  Holes had covered it by then, and she often asked you why you still wore it and why you wouldn’t throw it away.  You told her the same, that it was your favorite.

But then, after telling me that, you looked at me and smiled.  You leaned in and whispered, “It has holes all in it, but I still love it.  Because every time I wear it, I think of you.”

That memory fills me with sunshine on my dreariest day.  It brings warmth to my skin...warmth to my soul.  It was a stupid shirt, but it meant the world to you; and ultimately, it has meant the world to me.