Growing Into Our Lives (And the People In Them)

once upon a time there was a girl, and this girl had a sweater. it was her favourite thing in the world to wear. it was oversized and very warm. the sleeves fell past her fingertips, the hem hung halfway to her knees and the neck was all stretched out from one too many chilly days spent with her cold nose tucked into it.

she and the sweater were practically inseparable. she wore it to the park, she wore it out to eat, she wore it to her friend's house to watch movies and she wore it to church on Sundays. she even wore it to bed a couple of times.

but after a while the girl got older and started thinking about other clothes. though she swore that she still loved her sweater, she began trying other ensembles on for size. she donned peasant tops, band tee shirts, jackets, mini-skirts, khakis and shorts. she even borrowed a pair of her friend's skinny jeans without asking, hoping to return them before the friend noticed (the friend did notice, however, and was furious with the girl for months). but none of these new clothes felt right to her.

then, one night, the girl was out shopping when she saw it: the dress. the dress was perfect in every way. it was just the right shade of green to complement her eyes and the style reflected her personality exactly. the girl went into the store and tried it on to find that the garment looked even better on her than it had on the hanger. it fit her like a glove; even the saleswomen couldn't quite speak when they saw how extraordinary the girl looked. the dress made her feel beautiful. but when she looked at the price tag, her soaring heart sank. there was no way she could afford something like this. the girl walked out of the store, determined that she would find a way to purchase the dress.

every day for a month the girl walked by the store and looked at the dress while the sweater she once loved so much sat at the back of her closet with the rest of her winter clothes, forgotten. she had been saving up as much money as she could and by the end of the month she finally had enough. she walked into the store excitedly, but the dress was not in its normal place. she rushed over to the saleswoman, panicked, and was informed that the dress had been sold just that morning. heartbroken, the girl walked dejectedly back to her apartment and collapsed into bed.

for weeks she didn't bother getting dressed nicely. she rarely tried new outfits anymore--when she did she just ended up getting depressed, because neither the cute t-shirt her cousin had brought her back from a trip to Russia, nor the bright yellow sunglasses she'd picked up on her way home from school one day could live up to the dress. the 70s style skirt she'd picked up at a local thrift store just made her feel cheap. even a cute, worn-in hoodie she'd had for a few years couldn't lift her spirits.

summer turned into fall and the days got shorter and colder. the girl, at the insistence of her caring sister and a few worried friends, packed away the sunglasses that none of them had really liked to begin with (they were too large and not particularly flattering) and began to bring our her cold weather clothing. during this task she stumbled across her favourite old sweater. pleasantly surprised, she pulled it on over her t-shirt and instantly melted a little in its warmth. she'd grown a bit since the last time she'd worn it, so it fit her better than it ever had before. and even though it wasn't as big on her as before, it still carried the same comfort it always had. she curled up on the couch in her new-old sweater, and for the first time in ages didn't think about the dress that she'd thought was made just for her, but the sweater that just needed some growing into.