T-Shirts

I was instructed to declutter my dresser the other day by the house management, my lovely wife. In doing so I had to pause and look at the old T-shirts I was still holding on to. Lots of memories I didn’t want to part with, but they didn’t fit anymore and were taking up space. You see I have had to downsize my clothing storage with our growing family. Until our home remodel is finished my wife, and I share the bedroom closet and a couple dressers. It is tight but we make it work. This means any unnecessary clothing must be donated or disposed of. 

This reminds me of when I was a young boy and my dad, Fred, had this ‘Orange Crush’ t-shirt he would wear at night after he cleaned up from farm work. One day it was gone, and he found it cut up in the ‘grease rag’ box in the shop. I am sure it had seen its day and was probably thin enough to see through. I remember him being upset at first, then disappointed and almost sad about it. I was sure he could find another one, but the argument went on for days. Now looking back, I am sure it had some sentimental value to it. Memories of rocking us kids at night or maybe he bought it somewhere when my mom and him were dating. 

Looking through some of my old shirts I found some from high school, work shirts from different jobs I’ve had, places I have been, bands I liked, and ones I thought were cool but now wouldn’t wear in my stage of life. It is almost like at some point in a man’s life we give up the blanket and teddy bear and cling to our T-shirts. But eventually we grow out of them, in my case physically as well. 

Old habits and goals die hard. I used to have a T-shirt that said, “Been There, Done That, Got the T-Shirt”. I thought I always needed to tell everyone I went there, had an adventure, and I am wearing proof. Now my proof of adventures is what kind of food or mucus the kids smeared on me, and I hope that mark on my pants is chocolate. Different ways to measure your days that pass. You can tell that about your financial situation as well. I used to save up to buy concert tickets and vacations, now I look at my 401k and mutual fund balance like cheering on a football team. We have a great wealth management team that can invest your T-shirt money. Delayed gratification can buy you better shirts and concert tickets to the retirement tour. 

As for my T-Shirt drawer, I have new shirts from new adventures. I get shirts from Bruning Days, things I volunteer for, Disney on Ice, and lots of Dad Jokes. Looking back, I can’t remember the ones I threw out or how many there were. I grew out of those old rags and had new adventures with my growing family. It is probably good too, since my twins are starting to be able to read letters and ask a lot of questions. Being a dad has been my favorite and most challenging adventure so far. I think I need a dad T-shirt now with some sticky handprints so I have proof. 

-Adam Frank Bruning, Loan Officer-