Fashion is best worn on the inside
As I child, I never knew what resources we had or did not have. All I knew was that I felt joyful, immersed in our Greek culture (great food, music and dance) and surrounded by family and friends. We lived in a small bungalow in Atlanta, Georgia. And to me, our home was a palace.
It wasn’t until I started school that I began to realize that money was not abundant. My mom would give my sister and I $50 at the beginning of school to buy school clothes for the year. She would drop us off at Treasure Island (discount department store) and my sister and I would spend an hour searching for clothes. We both decided to choose clothing that would be less memorable so that when we wore them often, perhaps others wouldn’t notice as much.
After school started and we saw what all the girls were wearing, we asked mom if we were poor. She asked, “What does poor mean to you?” My sister and I looked at each other and replied with a whine that all the girls at school had nicer clothes than we did.
She then followed with a series of questions:
Do you have food to eat?
Do you have a family that loves you?
Do you live in a home and sleep in a warm bed at night?
Where does all your joy come from?
She then added, when you’re joyful in your heart, it doesn’t matter what you wear. Fashion is worn from the inside out. It didn't totally sink in at that moment but as time went on this lesson has become etched in my heart. I love you mom.
Mom (Mary) was a 32-year fighter/survivor of 4 different cancer diagnoses. While going through her own treatment, she worked with countless other patients that she met in the waiting room to give them hope, inspiration, motivation and lots of delicious Greek treats. She joined our daughter, Savannah, in heaven in January 2020.
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FM22