The Courage to Wear Your Imperfections with Pride
What a Little Girl Taught Me About True Worth I was volunteering last winter at our local community center, a spot that was always busy at holidays. Neighbors sympathetic to offering their blessings offered donations of clothing, toys, food, and more. On that day, my task was to go through boxes of clothes. I folded sweaters and got other volunteers to organize pants and hang coats on racks. Halfway through my shift, I began to pull out a coat, but all I could see was one that I instantly grabbed. It was a patchwork of different fabrics in various colors and patterns, like nothing I’d ever seen. Bright red, plaid, floral, or even striped, some pieces. The stitching was implodent, as if someone had mendy with the Hanes and patches. It was, though, that coat — the kind that would draw the eye, not because of its beauty but because of its strangeness. I brought it up, examining the cracked edges and faded seams. That wasn’t the kind of coat you’d pick out. I could sort of imagine sett...
