Re-Gifting, Sort Of
A surprising & delightful wardrobe downsizing
Hello, 2025! The holiday season may have interrupted my postings here, but I was still culling my possessions, and now it’s time to get back to writing about this process.
Case in point: For the first time in years, I had all of my boxes of Christmas decorations in one place. And there were/are still too many. It quickly became apparent that there were a bunch of odds-and-ends that I had never used, or would never use. I was in such a rush to get them out the door that I did not take pictures; a local church was holding a Christmas bazaar for one more day and still taking donations that very morning. This batch of stuff included things like a knitted stocking that my mom had given me three decades ago. I seem to recall that she had gotten it at a church holiday sale in my hometown and that it had been knitted by a neighbor from my childhood. But I had never had anywhere to hang it all by its lonesome. Maybe someone else could use it?
I had the same feeling about a plastic reindeer, still in its box. Was it a gift, or did I buy it to give away as a joke? When you pressed a button, it was motion-activated, and it was supposed to sit in your bathroom. All sorts of potty-related lines and jingles assaulted your ears and sensibility.
Thanks to the Google machine and YouTube, I could quickly confirm that this toy was called the “Deer John” by Hallmark.
Click this link and you, too, can understand why I never subjected family or friends to this—until now. You’re welcome! Haha! I hoped someone at the church bazaar would appreciate it more than I did.
Before I knew it, I had amassed three large shopping bags of this-and-that, and they were out the door and down the street in the church basement in minutes.
But the real surprise giveaway of this season took place at my mom’s house in Pennsylvania. After a large family gathering—dinner at Grumpy’s in downtown Pottstown, PA—we all ended up back at Mom’s for the gift exchange and consumption of a lot of cookies.
That was when one of my nephews said that he liked my blazer/jacket. After a few more comments, it became clear that he really liked it, as in, he would consider wearing it himself.
Before I knew it, I was taking off the blazer and handing it over. “Try it on. See if it fits,” I said. “I’ve had it for years and rarely worn it. I got it when I was teaching, and then the pandemic hit, and I’ve only worn it a couple times since then.”
It turned into a photo shoot, and my sending him off with the blazer (but not the scarf!) to consider at his hotel overnight.
The next morning, the verdict was in: He was keeping the jacket! It felt really good to pass it on to him, knowing he was trying out a new, more adventurous look for himself. And what was the point of it wasting time, hanging in my closet for even one more minute? Like so many of us in our consumption-based culture, I’ve got way more than I need. Wear it in fun and good health, dear P—!
(Photos posted with permission.)
Fantastic story. I love seeing the wonderful photo of your nephew at the end - and he ROCKS the jacket. :)
Nice jacket, Sue. Looks super hip and stylish on your nephew. Oh, and of course it also looked super hip and stylish on you, too!