(Part 1 of 3)
It was a Monday morning and I like to take care of the shopping early in the week. My husband doesn't like me to go out unescorted when he is out on assignment and it isn't always convenient to find a chaperone. That duty used to fall on my daughter but she got married in the spring and moved to Pennsylvania with her new husband.
Fortunately, her brother graduated shortly thereafter and moved back home. He won a teaching assistantship at a college near Arlington so he planned to live with us for his two years of graduate school. He didn't seem to mind escorting his mother but I tried not to bother him too much about it. If I could get all my shopping done on Monday then I don't have to ask him again for the week.
Once Donnie leaves home for good I guess my husband will have to hire someone. I try not to spend all his money but he can afford it. He has a very important job in the foreign service. His isn't a household name but you would recognize it if you studied political science or even history. I studied political science. That's how we met. He spoke at my college graduation and as the salutatorian I got to meet him. He made quite an impression on me and I must have impressed him too because a year later we were planning our wedding.
It's more fun shopping with a friend than an employee though and I was looking forward to spending the day with Donnie. He is very fun and charming and it was still a novelty to have him around all the time and not just during breaks from school. I also recalled him being very well dressed but when he came out to join me that morning he looked a little worse for wear. His shirt was fine, maybe in need of an ironing. But his slacks were visibly worn and too short for his tall frame.
"Oh, honey," I told him. "Those pants have had it. Is that what you'll be wearing to school?"
"No big deal, Mom." He shrugged nonchalantly. "People don't dress up these days like they used to."
"That's other people. Your father and I do not want you appearing in public dressed like a beatnik. Let's get you some breakfast and then to Conroys for some new slacks and maybe some shoes," I added, eyeing his battered loafers.
Donnie rolled his eyes but he didn't argue. He knows I get my way. And maybe he was secretly looking forward to some new clothes.
*****
I hadn't been to Conroys in a long while and I found the selection and male pants sizes bewildering. Donnie wasn't much help narrowing down the selection, shrugging when I asked him about his measurements or what fabrics and styles he preferred. I ended up throwing a large selection of pants over his arm and sending him into the changing rooms. After what seemed like forever he emerged looking miserable wearing a pair of pants that was clearly too large.