December 3, 2019
I am not a huge fan of the winter months, but there is one thing that makes it a little brighter for me and that is “the coat”. Many, many moons ago, like a lot, I found myself making a purchase of a denim (yes, denim) coat with faux fur used as trim. I bought it brand new and couldn’t wait to wear it. I loved how I felt when I wore that coat. I wore it to New York City, I wore it to basketball games, I wore it to the grocery store. If there was an opportunity for it, I was wearing it. As time would have it, the coat soon retired itself to the back of the closet.
I often find myself doing a major purge at least once a year of my closet, but the one thing that I could never get rid of…you guessed it…the coat. Fast forward to the fall of 2017 and the colder weather was again, upon us. As I looked for a “coat” to wear, at that moment, there it was…the coat. I found myself wearing it, much to my children’s dismay. All but one, despised that coat…but I wore it anyway. I would wear it to the shop, to the restaurants, to the spiritual advisor, and any other place that I traveled too. This time tho, the coat was named by a dear friend of mine. The Penny Lane Coat.
Something was different when I wore the coat this time…it resonated a magic. I was stopped on the street asking where I got it. People would yell out, “I love your coat!” Friends of mine would try it on, as did my youngest son! A for trying it, but it just didn’t look the same. It took me to this time of year, once again, and bringing the coat back out, to finally realize that it really isn’t about the coat, as much as it is about the magic that it radiates when it is on the right person. Kind of like Frosty The Snowman’s Hat. That coat will forever belong to me and how I feel when I am wearing it!
My kids, (with the exception of one), still roll their eyes when they see the coat. One of them suggested that I burn it. I respect their thoughts, BUT, the one thing that the coat has taught me to do is respect MY thoughts, respect how I feel when I am wearing it, regardless of what other people think. No one will ever be able to duplicate the way that I feel when I am wearing that coat and that truly is authenticity at its’ finest!