Our Bodies are Changing
But that’s only part of the story.
Today at Gather, the consignment shop where I work, a woman came in and spent a half-hour perusing the racks. She was very thorough, filing through all of the racks — small, medium, and large. She diligently sorted through the sale rack. In the end, she took only one dress into the dressing room. It’s a dress I’ve been eyeing for months — a long silk multi-patterned v-neck with bell sleeves. It’s a dress that would not suit my body, but I was excited for it to belong to someone.
The woman went into the dressing room and came out to where I was standing. She stood in the entryway to the dressing rooms shyly. “Does this work?” She asked me. She looked stunning. The fitted patchwork of patterns hung perfectly on her body.
“I can’t tell,” she said, “because my body is changing with….” Here she hesitated. “My body is changing as I get older,” she said. Then she pointed to her belly, the part of her body that many women in midlife struggle with. It struck me that she didn’t say menopause, though we both knew that this was what she was referring to.
“I get it,” I said, “My body is changing too and you really look wonderful in that dress.”
Another customer in the dressing room next to the woman’s echoed my praises and the decision was made. We chatted…
