How can you be cold?

I can’t count the number of times I got asked that questions this past summer. It kept coming up, as I was constantly wearing a certain brown sweater around the office. I thought to write about my brown sweater this month as my office will be moving and in my new location I likely won’t need a sweater in the summer. You see, there is an air vent in my office, which was meant to flow air (hot it the winter and cool in the summer) to a wide area, but because I have a small office, the temperature effects are so extreme that my office is the polar opposite of the outside temp. In the winter I sweat while I work and in the summer I wear my brown sweater.

It was a Christmas gift from Andrew and Sarah from back when I first started my career. Andrew was always much more stylish (read, loved to shop at Banana Republic in trendy young professional attire) than I and knew that any professional wardrobe required a sweater. I didn’t get much wear out of the sweater at first, but made sure to keep it and pop in on every now and then. All that changed when I moved into my current office. With the opposite temperature factor, the hotter it got outside the colder my office was. I wore that sweater every day this summer and much of last summer and sadly it’s showing signs of wear. There are a few little holes where a thread has come lose or I got it snagged on something, but they are small and so I don’t think people notice. There is a spot where a hole has been sewn together, it’s not perfect but only noticeable if you look for it. Even today I was taking it off and discovered a little hole in the pit that I will have to be careful no to tear any further. Regardless of the wear it provide much more than warmth but also a source of comfort. In a way, it reminds me of the bear I had as a kid. I took that bear with me everywhere.

Like my bear, Andrew had a blanket. By the time I was around that blanket was well worn. Andrew loved that blanket and had had it from when he was a young child. I’m pretty sure it had been white at one point, but it had become too fragile to put in the washing machine anymore and washing by hand could only do so much. I’m also pretty sure that it had been rectangular or square in shape, but it developed many holes and Andrew simply tied it back together, eventually it became quite ball-like. All the while Andrew loved it for the comfort it provided when he was young and the sense of familiarity.

I doubt that I will let my sweater go that far but like a childhood bear or blanket, I love and cherish that sweater. It’s a little old and if you look close you can find some holes, but it was a gift from my brother and Sarah and provides me with a sense of comfort when I need it (even when I’m not that cold).