I recently attended a Scrapbooking day in a nearby town where the Hostess gave us the task to simply dump many of our scrapbooking supplies into a basket and then without looking, reach inside the basket in a “blind grab”. Whatever items were pulled out had to be used to create a scrapbook layout—even if the items did not match.
This fun exercise reminded me of my older sister, Denise.
Denise suffers from an open head trauma, and unfortunately one of the many side-effects is that she has lost her once incredible sense of fashion style. Denise used to dress so beautifully with all the right finishing touches. But now, Well…
Denise never fails to surprise us with her never ending supply of fashion blunders. Sometimes it seems as though she has simply covered her eyes while reaching into her clothing stash and worn whatever emerged from her “blind grab” whether the items matched or not. She struts about proud as a peacock regarding her childish and sometimes outlandish fashion choices where the colors and patterns rarely harmonize. Denise giggles like a school girl about some silly aspect of her attire whether it is her mismatched patterns, or the toddler bows and clips in her hair.
During the early years of her head trauma I remember being extremely embarrassed quite often over my sister’s lack of fashion abilities while in public, but as time has passed I’ve grown to understand her disability and I’ve found myself actually enjoying some of the eccentric styles my dear sister invents.
Over the years Denise’s inability to make more mature fashion choices has taught me both patience and acceptance toward others. I’ve learned to ignore the judging eyes of strangers who observe from afar without even knowing what’s wrong, and to simply have fun spending time with my sister.
Thanks Denise for teaching me it’s okay to color outside of the lines once in a while.
Have a Beautiful Day – Dina
Blue Jeans and Chocolate 