It's All In The Coats
The collection of a dozen or so coats in the closet these days represents more than various fashions and means of keeping warm.
Hidden in the pockets are personal historical items in the form of event tickets, wedding invitations and funeral programs. One coat has the program for my father's funeral in January 2007, while another has the program for my mom's funeral in September 2008.
Mixed in are a variety of receipts and even silly things such as tiny bottles of soap for blowing bubbles to send off a new bride and groom. A tuxedo's pockets hold flyers from formal events, while a blue-jean jacket's pockets preserve items from more down-to-Earth affairs.
Creating pocket museums in coats has been going on since college in the early 1980s. Coats have come and gone, as well as the myriad items stashed away in their pockets.
Three years ago this month, I interviewed for the Tyler Morning Telegraph business editor position. During a time of industry turmoil, I badly wanted out of corporate journalism and to land in the kind of indepenent, family-run operation I'd experienced and enjoyed in Georgetown and Killeen so many years ago.
It was love at first sight for this wonderful Tyler community, and every day here and at the newspaper validates the reasons for the scenery change.
The suit I wore for the interview in late October 2008 was a bit tight around the midsection, and the suit has sat unworn in the closet ever since.
Until today.
Having lost about 20 pounds in the last month through diet and exercise, I put on the suit this morning to gleefully discover a perfect fit, far more comfortable than it was three years ago. I'll be wearing it tonight for a community event.
A quick pocket check uncovered the receipt for the hotel where I stayed the night before the Tyler Morning Telegraph interview. And, like it was for the community, it equally was love at first sight for this company. A simple receipt brought me back to that moment in time, a life-change symbol almost as powerful as the programs for my deceased father and mother.
More historical pocket treasures await in the coat pockets of a long-discarded other suit that remains fashionable and has been dragged around for years in the hope that I will slim down enough to wear it again.
Maybe some day, many years from now, a program for my sons' weddings will find their way into that coat pocket. And I'll already have the decades-old bubbles on hand to send them off into their new life chapters.
Hidden in the pockets are personal historical items in the form of event tickets, wedding invitations and funeral programs. One coat has the program for my father's funeral in January 2007, while another has the program for my mom's funeral in September 2008.
Mixed in are a variety of receipts and even silly things such as tiny bottles of soap for blowing bubbles to send off a new bride and groom. A tuxedo's pockets hold flyers from formal events, while a blue-jean jacket's pockets preserve items from more down-to-Earth affairs.
Creating pocket museums in coats has been going on since college in the early 1980s. Coats have come and gone, as well as the myriad items stashed away in their pockets.
Three years ago this month, I interviewed for the Tyler Morning Telegraph business editor position. During a time of industry turmoil, I badly wanted out of corporate journalism and to land in the kind of indepenent, family-run operation I'd experienced and enjoyed in Georgetown and Killeen so many years ago.
It was love at first sight for this wonderful Tyler community, and every day here and at the newspaper validates the reasons for the scenery change.
The suit I wore for the interview in late October 2008 was a bit tight around the midsection, and the suit has sat unworn in the closet ever since.
Until today.
Having lost about 20 pounds in the last month through diet and exercise, I put on the suit this morning to gleefully discover a perfect fit, far more comfortable than it was three years ago. I'll be wearing it tonight for a community event.
A quick pocket check uncovered the receipt for the hotel where I stayed the night before the Tyler Morning Telegraph interview. And, like it was for the community, it equally was love at first sight for this company. A simple receipt brought me back to that moment in time, a life-change symbol almost as powerful as the programs for my deceased father and mother.
More historical pocket treasures await in the coat pockets of a long-discarded other suit that remains fashionable and has been dragged around for years in the hope that I will slim down enough to wear it again.
Maybe some day, many years from now, a program for my sons' weddings will find their way into that coat pocket. And I'll already have the decades-old bubbles on hand to send them off into their new life chapters.
posted by Brian at 10:14 AM
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