Varsity

It's nearly Halloween and I am not a huge fan of this holiday although I do enjoy the cute side of it...i.e. children dressed up in precious costumes and trick-or-treating. I do not enjoy the haunted side of the holiday at all. Scary movies and haunted houses/farms/hotels do NOTHING for me. Thank goodness My Hero feels the same way. Ghostbusters is about the scariest thing we can stomach.

In light of Halloween, I started thinking about costumes and how they've changed, or haven't really changed that much, over the years. I mean, you see princess costumes, pirates, ghosts and goblins every year. Now, Lady Gaga is thrown into the mix, but isn't she really just a concoction of all the aforementioned Halloween characters? Long story short, this got me thinking about how fashion trends have come and gone and come back again. Maybe they are a little more bedazzled than the year before, but the concept is still the same. With that having been stated, have you noticed that Varsity Jackets are back in style???? WHHHHAT?!??! Seriously. I couldn't believe it.

My Hero has encouraged me to leave behind my high school letterman jacket with each move, but I just couldn't do it. A lot of hard work and hours went into creating my masterpiece and there are a few pins that never made it onto my trendy outerwear. Sadly, my research of this trend shows that this is now a more fitted garment. When I purchased my jacket, styles were big and baggy. I also believe that the only size jacket available to everyone was large, extra large and King Kong. In hindsight I think that my alma mater purchased these size options for the football team not really thinking that anyone on the varsity field hockey team or varsity track team who was female would want this article of clothing. Clearly, none of the female student body was consulted about this merchandising effort.

Anyway, I reminisced quite a bit this afternoon as I pulled out my jacket. In short, it consists of a varsity letter for both field hockey and track, 3 district champion patches and 1 regional champion patch for field hockey, 5 varsity bars, 2 running pins, 2 hockey pins and 1 orchestra pin (Yep, I was an orchestra geek...Concert Mistress. What. Can you play an instrument? Didn't think so.) I know you aren't supposed to live in the past, but this was just the boost I needed to get me out of the slump I've been in lately. I accomplished a lot in life just during high school. I used to run circles around myself. Don't get me wrong...I don't want to be that busy again, but I have given myself strong encouragement for future endeavors with this trip down memory lane. What did you do in your past that made you proud of who you've become today and given you the encouragement to go the distance?