Diamonds and Pearls of Wisdom

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

How J Crew Saved Me From Myself

My mother dropped a huge bombshell on me -- she needs a kidney transplant. After we rang off with many assurances from me that my kidney was her kidney, I stared at the phone in my hand. I was numb. I needed to get out of my apartment and do something. But what?

"We get our new shipment in on Monday," a sweet voice chirped in my head.

To J Crew!

I arrived an hour before closing and tried on many variations of this season ruffled tops and "borrowed from the boys" tailoring. Everything I tried on made me feel fat and useless. So I went to the jewelry counter where I would be forever beautiful no matter how many Oreo cakesters I ate or missed trips to the gym.

"Are you looking for anything special?" that sweet voice chirped again.

"Uhh, no. I'm emotional shopping," I blurted. "My mother needs a kidney transplant and you're the first person I've told."

The angel of a saleswoman listened to my ramblings while I tried on earrings and offered to pray for me and my family.

Once I finished, she said, "I'm not going to let you buy these. Save your money. See your mother."

She was right. Even if I bought every ruffly, distressed, borrowed from the boys, sparkled, bedazzled, bejangled piece from J Crew, it wouldn't save me from the difficult decisions I may have to make in the coming months.

But a new pair of earrings would make things a bit more bearable.

3 comments:

  1. Oh, Kerra. I'll say prayers too for your mother, you and your journey in the coming months.
    Also, SO excited to see you've started a blog and you're writing about one of the passions that made you so memorable to me.

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  2. Thanks Dana for the prayers and the compliments.

    This is a great outlet to express myself while having a little fun.

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  3. We'll be thinking about you. (((Kerra)))

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