Haddie's Post

I always thought that my boys would be like me, because, you know, I birthed them. But they prefer hip hop to Steely Dan and video games to Tom Brady and Roger Federer. They are their own people, and I am grateful for this.  

But it was a nice opportunity to spend time with my niece Haddie this summer, because we have very similar interests. She is 12. She likes classic rock and sports and clothes and everything about the 1980s, and wants to know what I wore and the stuff about my high school, college and all of it.

Yeah that's my niece. 

She asked if I had any old clothes that she could have and I happily obliged. I gave her some choice pieces, the highlight being my Eastern Sprints t-shirt from 1991, when our college crew won the gold (kind of a big deal). I never wore it, but I couldn’t shed it either. It was easy to give it to Haddie.

That's me on the right. 

I tried to give her my vintage J. Crew khakis—unisex stone cotton pants with a button fly, but they were too long.

She needed some decent shorts for one stop on the way home and, having none, I decided to cut the pants and hem them for her. I eyeballed the cutting and then did a quick whipstitch to cuff them. 

They looked great on her!

If I had more time I would have cuffed them with hot pink embroidery thread. Next time!

This gives me joy. I am happy I have a relationship with my niece. That she has a love of the past and a fascination with my stuff. That she will wear these clothes and make her own history in them. 

I'm joyful that I can take my clothes sitting in my closet and make them into something my niece would want to wear. That I can use a needle and thread. That I have some of the skills my mom had. I am always surprised by how much of my mom I have in me. I shouldn’t be.

And my boys have me in them. They may not know it and I may not see it, but it’s there. I am grateful for the future joy they will feel someday. There is nothing like it.