Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Superman Shirts

I bought my first shirt with the Superman “S” on it last spring. I found it in the Junior section at Kohl’s. Yes, I am a 42 year old woman who bought a shirt from the Junior section.

Why was I shopping in that section of the store? Duh, they don’t tend to stock Superman shirts in the Women’s department. What grown woman wants to buy a Superman shirt?

That’s right, I do. I wanted that shirt the minute I saw it. I went back and forth on whether I should even try it on. I told myself I was too old to wear a Superman shirt. I insisted, in my head, that I was being ridiculous and everyone would look at me and think, “What is she wearing? She’s way too old to wear that.”

But Alyssa was with me and she told me I should at least try it on. She’s a sweet one, that girl.

So I tried it on. And I wanted it. Oh, how I wanted that shirt. And, bonus, it was on sale for $4. But still I dithered. Did I dare buy it? Would I even have the nerve to wear it if I did purchase it?

Alyssa grew exasperated. “Just buy it, Mom! You’re not too old and even if you are, well, tomorrow you’ll be even older and you’ll definitely not buy it.”

She was right. I bought the shirt. I wore that shirt proudly and never once felt like anyone was looking me like they thought I was too old to wear it. And over the past year, I’d bought three other Superman shirts, each one a little different from the others.

What she said made me think. Today, I am older than I’ve ever been. But I’m also younger than I’ll ever be again. So damn it, I’m going to wear the hell out of those Superman shirts.

In fact, I wore one of them last Saturday when the girls and I met friends to go roller skating. When the other mom and her girls showed up, she exclaimed, “I love your shirt!”

She called to her daughter to show her what I was wearing and she declared her love for it too.


D, the mom, said, “I have a Superman shirt. I love it. But I’m often nervous to wear it. I’m so glad you wore yours and I’ll be wearing mine more often too.”

I love that by getting over myself I might just be helping other women who might be close to my age get over themselves too.

Because like I said we may be as old as we’ve ever been but we’re never going to be this young again, we may as well embrace it.

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