My Grandfather's Bathrobe

I've been looking for a bathrobe for Steve for Father's Day.  No one seems to have the summer robe that I am looking for.  (It is actually a replacement for a summer robe that I bought for him nearly 20 years ago which is starting to fray a bit.)  I've been to several department stores, but nothing.  (As an aside, no one seems to sell men's pajamas either.  Of course I could go on line and to get what I am looking for, but I want to be able to touch and see what I am getting before I get it!)

I asked my mother if a store near her might have what I was looking for.  She did her research and came back empty handed, just as I did.  But she did have a possible solution.  She thought that she had my grandfather's (her father's) robe.

She did some digging and sure enough she did.  I thought I remembered the robe and when I went over to check it out, I was right.

In my mind I can see it (and I KNOW that somewhere there is an actual photo or was one).  In this exact yellow cotton bathrobe, I can see my grandfather sitting in the kitchen eating his shredded wheat.  He sat in the same kitchen that I now drink my morning coffee at.  He may not have sat in the same chair (because before we were married Steve and I bought new chairs), but he did sit at the same table and in the same place as I do every day.  (And just for the record, Steve sits at the table where my grandmother once sat and our son sits where I, or my brother, would have sat when we were visiting.)

As much as I love Steve and want to get him a new robe for Father's Day, I just couldn't give him the robe.  I have procured it for myself.  Sure it's a little big, and it's been sitting in a closet for nearly thirty years untouched.  But one Saturday morning, I put it on and went downstairs and had my coffee.  It just seemed right.

So Steve may not get a robe for Father’s Day.  But now I have a summer robe and memories.  I won’t be giving either up.

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