Soft and Worn

When I was a kid I slept in my dad's old t-shirts. They were faded and worn thin and super soft (and usually stained). But the best part about them was they smelled like my dad. This was especially important to me after he left my mom. On the nights we stayed with her I could cuddle close to the smell of him at night and not miss him as much.

I always wondered how he managed to wear out t-shirts, as at that time I was out-growing them before I could wear them out. Then as I got older I had so many tees that the idea of any one of them getting that much wear was impossible to imagine.

But I've finally done it. One of my shirts now looks like Swiss cheese*:

I bought this gray Old Navy pocket tee after watching The Thing Called Love in college. Samantha Mathis' character wears one in the movie and even though I loved the look on her, it didn't work well on me. The t-shirt got relegated to my "comfy clothes" category (the clothes I wear around the house but not out in public). It's still my go-to shirt to pull on when I get home from work. I suppose at some point I will have to give up and let it go. I wonder if my dad felt the same reluctance to part with his old shirts.

*Sorry for the crappy cell phone in the bathroom mirror picture.