Nothing But Love :: golf blogger

LIFE OF A JACKET

before i get started, let’s get this out of the way first. i always start with the title when i post. in coming up with the brilliant (oh yes it IS brilliant) title above, i typed the word “jacket” about 8 times. made me notice what a funny word that is. jacket. hehe. and you may not even call it a jacket in your part of the world – you may call it a sport coat or just a coat or whatever. WE call it a jacket. hehehehe. i said jacket again. ohmygod, i crack me up.

if you look over to the right ------> and down a little, you’ll see the pictures bill posted of our wedding. the pictures are crummy quality. i’ll try to add pictures to this post later. but they won’t be wedding pictures.

the jacket (hehehe) bill’s wearing is pure 1974. it is awesome in 2004 parlance, groovy in 1974 parlance. you might not be able to catch it, but it’s crushed velvet. not really crushed velvet, but a kind of stiff (hehe, i said stiff. omg, i’m in quite the mood here), soft, velour. the absolute BEST $35 (1974 dollars) ever spent! the lapels don’t end in straight-edged points, they end in curves. and the back is cinched in at the waist. i LOVE this jacket!

bill took his mom with him when he bought this jacket (along with the oatmeal-colored, cuffed linen pants, and the bow tie). this is the thing that weirds me MOST out about this -- how relaxed i was about the whole thing. i told everybody – bill, the groom, and my sisters, my “attendants” what i was wearing, and told them to wear whatever they wanted, providing they thought it’d look ok with my dress. i’m cool with what they all picked out. what the hell? this is/was not normal bride behavior. may have been my only and last moment of not having to be involved in all the details and decisions. my name is stacey, and i’m a control freak.

back to the jacket (heh). bill loves this jacket, i love this jacket, and the boys love this jacket. most people only get to see their wedding jacket worn once. but this is way too cool for that. i’m sure bill wore it again back then for a special occasion – i just can’t tell you what it was. the first time i can tell you for sure it was worn was by matt. when he was in 5th grade. he played sam adams in a school play. we found a pony tail and a black felt hat in a novelty store. shaped the hat into a tri-cornered hat, attached the pony tail with a “manly” (revolutionary-war manly) ribbon, white baseball socks up over his knees, a pair of rolled up, cuffed pants, and a pair of my shoes (i think). and the jacket. it was perfect as a fancy, revolutionary-war era, waist coat. for an 11 year old. came down almost to his knees. i have video (i’ll work on the picture thing, i promise).

then in high school, matt pulled the jacket out over and over again. for homecoming dances. for any kind of formal dance he attended. for the real formal dances, we picked up a jerry garcia cummerbund and matching bow tie. very 70’s (duh). again, i think i can hunt up a picture.

last month, jax pulled out the jacket. he went to an area senior prom (stag) with a group of people. i’m haggling with jax to get a picture from one of his friends to post. but i can tell you he looked awesome when he tried on the whole outfit he chose. jeans, white dress shirt, no tie, his black, scary boots.

the value of this jacket just keeps increasing. each time it’s worn, i’m both worried AND thrilled. worried that it will be damaged in some way that will render it unsuitable for future wearings. thrilled that it’s being worn again. my husband’s wedding jacket. by our boys. maybe someday by grandchildren.

i’d like to write something here pulling this all together. about how this jacket is kind of the story of our life. but i’m not that good. i can’t take those feelings out of my heart and translate them to english. i’m beaming the feelings to you though. can you feel it?

Posted by Stacey at June 10, 2004 02:16 PM