Kate and I are now at Barnes & Noble where we are awaiting a call from Jan and Scott Greeley, our long-time friends who live in Nashville. They are in town for the memorial service for a friend. We are going to meet them for lunch after the service. Since my last post, we dropped by the bank to get some cash and came over to Belk’s to buy Kate a new bra. For almost the entire time since her diagnosis, we have faced a number of issues involving clothing. Some of those have been partially resolved, but there are always new ones. Here is one that occurred about 45 minutes ago.
I should start by saying that my knowledge of women’s apparel has never been good. That is especially true when it comes to bras. Today was not my first experience shopping for them, but it was the most challenging one. A writer for a situation comedy could have a field day describing what transpired. It could make for quite a funny episode. I, on the other hand, didn’t take it that way at all. For me, it represents one more sign of how far Kate is on this journey. Thus, I see more sadness than humor.
Today, perhaps all week, Belk is having a sale on all their bras. They are fully stocked for the occasion. In some ways that might make it a good opportunity to make a purchase. Instead, I found it overwhelming. Despite the store’s best efforts to have things in order, I could not identify a consistent pattern to the way they were arranged. I know it must have been overwhelming for Kate. She didn’t even make an effort to look for anything. She trusted and depended on me for that.
Finally, I picked out what I thought was the correct size. I have done this at least twice before, once at Belk’s and once through Amazon. It turns out that the size I bought last time must not be the right one now. Kate tried on at least five different ones without finding the right fit. It took her quite a while to try them on. When she came out after trying the first two, she couldn’t tell me much except “they didn’t fit.” Then I went back for a couple more with the same result. Finally, I suggested that I go into the fitting room with her. She thought that was a good thing. After looking at the way this fit, I felt it was still too tight. I suggested we try to get something through Amazon. It would be easier than picking through all the items hanging on the racks.
I should also mention that each time Kate came out of the fitting room she had put on the two tops she was wearing. The problem was that she kept putting them on backwards. One time she left one of them in the fitting room. She is getting so very confused, and it is very sad to see. These are the kinds of things that make me pessimistic about the upcoming year.
