I actually cleaned out a closet today. I didn’t start out to do this. I was just looking for a pair of pants that goes with a jacket I am giving to the Beacon of Hope, a charitable resale shop. I had already cleaned out a dresser drawer in the spare bedroom.

I kept finding things I will never wear again. I removed four blazers, none of which look right in the shoulders. I threw hangers from the cleaners on the floor. Alisha who owns the cleaners with her mother, said she would take them. I found several tote bags I forgot I had.

The elegant pants suit suit I am donating I bought in New York. It is cream-colored linen with a lining and a braided edging on the lapels. But it has shoulder pads and no longer looks right. Also the pants are high-waisted, since the suit was designed for a taller human being and New York doesn’t know anything about small people. Ed said I could have the jacket altered and he would get his tailor at Saks to do it so I bring it along the next time we go. Anthony, who runs the men’s shop at Saks in the Bell Tower Mall in Fort Myers, picks up the phone and calls Cecil, who does the alterations. Cecil, who looks like a John Gielgud butler, comes down from his aerie and sniffs at my jacket. Very outre, he mutters. Yes, I know, I say, but I’d like to salvage it if I can. “It was another time,” I add. He is unimpressed. He pouts while I put it on. He pulls and tugs. “It can’t be fixed,” he pronounces and stalks out. Anthony, who loves us, gives me a hug. He is so tall he has to bend over halfway to do it.

Ed loves Saks and waits for sales. I won’t pay their prices. I like some things I see, but I don’t live that life anymore. In my closet I rediscovered two incredibly elegant floor-length gowns I look fantastic in, but haven’t worn them in 18 years. Wait, I wore one to a formal Christmas party about 11 years ago. “We’ll go somewhere,” Ed says.

I had planned to stop off at the charity shop on the way to the market, but by the time I had finished going down memory lane with the closet it was late, and the wind was blowing, and it was raining, so I’ll do groceries tomorrow.

xx, Teal