Hand Me Down

 

This particular shirt was mine when I was probably 6 or 7. I was a smaller kid than Sophia. When we were going through boxes and stuff before our move, we came across a few of my favorite t-shirts and toys. I handed them down to Sophia, and occasionally she pops out of her room in one of my t-shirts. I'm certain that she does this just to please me because our styles as little girls could not possibly be more different.

This brings me to another memory. Every year, our family took a long vacation to Branson from central Illinois. I was given a certain sum to spend on vacation souvenirs and such. I can't remember the exact amount. I only know that it was just about the right amount to buy a t-shirt with an iron-on transfer at the first Ozarkland we came across. Every year. I was as constant as the moon. No matter how determined I was to save my money, I would always spend it on a t-shirt. From those Ozarkland visits, I have some gems like the cowboy shirt Sophia was wearing. I have several shirts with teddy bears doing different Bransony activities: playing banjo, chopping wood and such. After my t-shirt purchase, I usually had enough leftover to buy a couple Sarsasparillas and ice creams at Silver Dollar City.

I don't know whether or not it's sad, but this is exactly how I deal with my vacation money to this day. Maybe worse. Some vacations, I end up spending it all in advance on clothes to wear on vacation. The good thing is that I almost never buy t-shirts with banjo-playing bears...