By SUSAN DROMEY HEETER, InDepthNH.org
I just stood in line with a woman at the Alaska Airlines ticket desk (I’m currently in California) and she asked the woman working if she’d be comfortable checking her bag, for fear it may not make it to her final destination.
“I’d be nervous,” said the Ticket Agent, but I’d take the risk. The woman contemplating the bag check then said, “Well, if it doesn’t make it, I guess I can wear my mother’s clothes for the week.” And I laughed out loud.
I muse joyfully on wearing a mother’s clothes; I know my own mother’s wardrobe consisted of a lot of polyester pants and orthotic shoes.
She was not known for her fashion, rather, her practicality and comfort. She did have great leather gloves and red lipstick, and while they did not cancel out the holiday sweatshirts, they did provide a lot of bang for the buck.
I’m currently wearing gray pants that remind me of a baseball uniform and are stained from the fish tacos I ate yesterday on Mission Beach in San Diego.
I got sauce and fish all over my lap; the stains are my souvenir from a beautiful day watching the Pacific surf. My own daughters would be horrified to wear my outfit today.
I am not a trendy mom – I’m more attuned to dressing as Johnny Quest – khakis, black top, sneakers. Easy, functional, generally stained.
But, it’s good to simply have clothes, to be warm, to be ready for a transcontinental flight.
I’ll see you on the flip side. And if you’re wearing your mother’s clothes? I muse joyfully you’ll enjoy the connection – whether your own bags made the connection or not.
Susan Dromey Heeter is a writer from Dover who recently let her hair go au natural white. Writing has been her passion since her English majoring days at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Dromey Heeter has lived in The Netherlands, Alaska and currently basks in all things New England, including the frigid winters. An avid swimmer, Dromey Heeter’s great passion is to bring back body surfing as most children have no idea how to ride waves without ridiculous boogie boards.