It was the summer of 2019.
Sharing a little story here of how to keep your loved ones near, even if they’re not here with you anymore or just not close by…
These little bloomers are cute, right? They are my version of a slip for under skirts and dresses. My grandma, affectionately known as Sweetie, took me to JCPenney the summer I graduated from high school and we shopped for dresses I’d need to wear for sorority rush. She reminded me I’d need a slip for the dresses - I really was a jeans and shirt girl before so the idea of dressing up to prance in front of a bunch of college girls for approval (but also hoping for a great experience and new friendships) sounded both terrifying and exciting at the same time. Nothing felt right when I tried on all the basic slips and I hated how confining the body-smoothing ones felt on my tummy. I wanted to wear something that said “I’m a fun teenager ready to go off to college”, not someone ready for granny pants! This little pair of bloomers was perfect! She bought them that day, 32 summers ago, never knowing what they would end up meaning for me the last 4 decades of my life. Here are the adventures of what I now call “my sweeties”....
From rushing #AOII at 18 (with my maiden initials in black Sharpie on the tag) to moving to the big city and wearing skirts and dresses to job interviews I was scared to death to go to, I wore my sweeties. Under my cheap, thin black skirt I wore as a waitress to pay my rent because I couldn’t find a PR job in Seattle, my sweeties kept me confident that no one could see through the lousy material.
Wearing shoulder pads and too much floral to attend the wedding of a college friend, I felt good knowing I had on my little bloomers - my floral blazer was truly horrendous, 90s stretchy skirt probably too tight 🤦🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️) but I still felt confident...and covered.
For the next few years, my sweeties became a staple of my dressier wardrobe, light and airy but covering my derrière anytime I needed it. I felt almost safe wearing them - no one could see my butt and it somehow boosted my confidence to wear something that had gotten me through so many important occasions up to that point.
As my 20s rolled by, I wore them to bachelorette parties and baby showers, under my little black dresses on girls’ nights out, to my friends’ weddings, to work under my business suits as I managed dental offices. All along, my sweeties were a constant reminder that I was “covered”, both with the right undergarment and with my life. I was mostly broke in my 20s but I had all the support I needed - I could call Sweetie anytime and she’d send me a $25 check or take me grocery shopping when I was in town. Whenever I was stressed or sick, I would dial 924-4265 from whatever landline I was near and know I’d be okay. She’d answer and within minutes, I felt safe and loved, covered.
Soon after I got engaged, Sweetie passed away and of course, I wore my sweeties to her funeral, thankful through my tears that I had a piece of her with me. Looking back, even then I didn’t realize the significance of this one little pair of bloomers.
🙋🏼♀️ INSERTS HERE: “yes, I wash them often and I’ve always hand-washed them because the material is so light and thin - they’ve really held up well”. Now stop judging 🙈😂 and read on!
Over the last 20 years, my sweeties have tagged along under my wedding dress, pregnancy jumpers, Old Navy t-shirt dresses at the park with 1, 2 and then 3 kids; at engagement parties and play dates and PTO meetings, at my first BLOOM mom tribe conference (& the next two) and when I earned awards on stage in front of thousands with Thirty-One Gifts. They’ve been with me all along, keeping my butt covered one meaningful event at a time - - - and the mundane ones, too. I guarantee I’ve worn those buggers during toddler meltdowns at Target, kids’ baseball games and school conferences (because t-shirt dresses are my jam. Sorry, not sorry).
My close friends giggle and ask if I’m wearing my sweeties when we’re out and dressed up. The answer is almost always yes and they all know the story behind them. It might’ve even started out as a joke during one of our girls’ getaways but pretty sure they see how much this little piece of material means to me. As I’ve aged and life happens, I can remember certain dresses (with my sweeties keeping me safe underneath) that represent bad news: wearing my red and gray dress the morning my best friend called to tell me her biopsy came back positive for breast cancer; last fall, wearing my navy dress to 2 friends’ unexpected funerals within 3 weeks.
Every Christmas, birthday dinner at a nice restaurant, outing to church, trip to Hawaii, girls’ weekends and fancy date nights with my husband, Sweetie is with me.
This story has kind of come full circle recently. I wore my sweeties to watch my son graduate from high school in June, and in July, I wore them under my GAP dress to stroll through Europe. Last month, I wore them to speak and inspire a group of women business owners and today, well - today I’m wearing my sweeties as I prepare to leave my son (my first baby) at college, far away. Aaah. Cue the tears.
Life is precious and your loved ones are always with you, whether in Heaven like Sweetie or several states away like my big boy will be. Thank God for my sweeties because all the crying at Niko’s drop off is going to be hard enough. At least I won’t have to worry about my outfit!
While it really is just a super thin garment to cover my rear, when it’s needed, these little bloomers have meant everything to me. I look down and see the faded KN initials on the worn tag and think, “Wow, Sweetie - you’re always there with me.”
Even over 30 years later, she might not be here with me in person, but she’s been keeping me loved and protected this whole time.
