Now and Then

 

Now

When I took the grandkids camping at Lake Minatare last week, three-year-old Lucy wore her favorite shirt, the one I bought her a year ago for her second birthday. I'm glad to know she likes the shirt, but even her older sister has been trying to tell her it's way too small. In addition, it has faded to a sickly off-white, and the kitty is barely there anymore.

Since I had ordered the shirt from Amazon, I pulled out my phone, clicked on the "Buy Again" feature, and found that the shirt was still available, much to Meagan's surprise. So I reordered it in a bigger size, and that was that. 

The shirt arrived a couple of days later. Lucy put it on immediately, and Meagan snapped a quick photo of an excited girl with her new, still favorite shirt, which is big enough to last for at least another year.






As I thought about Lucy and her favorite shirt, I remembered another little girl with another favorite shirt. Lucy's mom, Meagan, was four years old when she wore her preferred shirt constantly, whenever it was clean, and sometimes, just like little Lucy, when it really needed to be washed. Like Lucy's shirt, Meagan's shirt featured animals, but a collection of jungle animals rather than a single kitty surrounded by flowers and a lone butterfly. Meagan called her shirt her animal shirt, while Lucy simply refers to hers as her kitty shirt.

I remember the day when I took Meagan with me to the mall to do some shopping. We stopped at J C Penney's in search of something that I can't remember, thirty-six years later--no surprise there. But I do recall that a traveling photographer had set up his booth in the store. On the spur of the moment, I decided to have Meagan's picture taken, in the favorite shirt she happened to be wearing. If I had planned ahead, I would have had her wearing a dress but, as it turned out, that shirt was the perfect choice of attire because it reminds us of four-year-old Meagan as she really was.

Then

When I went back to Penney's a couple of weeks later to see the photos, I was expecting to pick up the single photo that I had already paid for. But, after looking through the pictures, I ended up paying extra for a grouping of five pictures that still hangs on the wall in my hallway as a reminder of who Meagan was way back then, when she was only four.

It was a sad day when Meagan outgrew her favorite shirt. I wish I could have bought her another shirt in a bigger size then, in those days before online shopping; but it just wasn't possible, at that time, to find an identical shirt a whole year later. However, I know that little Meagan's favorite shirt is still tucked away in her cedar chest, faded and worn, and very much loved. Perhaps Lucy would like to see it?

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. 
Psalm 127:3

But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children. 
Psalm 103:17


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