My storytellin’ overalls

Celebrating the habit of reminiscing…originally posted at Sonflower.

I have a favorite pair of denim overalls given to me by my mom one Christmas, oh at least 10 years ago. This was during the height of overall fashion, of course.  My two sisters also received a pair.  They were from the Gap, so it was a real treat.  They are well-made and fit just right and I wore those things all the time. Then the adjusters broke on one side and then the other.  I used a safety pin, but you could tell.

Eventually they were relegated to work overalls (a mom uniform, if you will), which is what overalls were created for, right?  Then they became painting overalls.  You know that a piece of clothing is one step from the final farewell when you start using it to paint in.  At least it is for me.  I really get into painting and I’m not very neat.

We must have been painting in the warmer months a lot, because I haven’t worn those overalls in a while.  The other day I was looking for something to paint in – comfort was my number one criteria and it was a little cool, so I needed pants.  Then bingo!  I remembered my overalls.  I pulled them from the back of the closet.  Would they still fit?   YES MAM they did!

My eyes ran over that softly worn denim and I couldn’t help but reminisce as I looked at the rainbow of colors there.  There were births and moves and growing up years represented in the raffia, citrus slice and hoot owl brown.  There were fun times spent with my hubby trying to hurry and paint a room before a daughter came home from a weekend away, first times letting kids take the roller, and the joy of painting over smudges and crayon marks in the green apple, Tuscan sky and patina.

The colors I’m adding now represent more transition.  A toddler and a baby getting their own room and mom and dad getting the same for the first time in two-and-a-half years in the Christopher Robin’s swing green.  And a pre-teen and her younger sister graduating to bunk beds in the shoreline blue, seamist, and Tangier island.

It’s truly a kaleidoscope of love and I know that I’ll be keeping these overalls for a long time.  They’re as good as any scrapbook and a lot more comfortable.