Chuckers-R-us

I was 19 and going to college in Utah. One weekend, I went to the mall with some friends. We walked into the GAP, and I saw the perfect sweatshirt. I went right over and tried it on.Honestly, it was ideal. Super soft, really warm and comfortable, and it looked great, too. I didn't hesitate. That sweatshirt was mine.Over the years, it became a most beloved sweatshirt. Other sweatshirts had come and gone, but none could compare to this one. On cold mornings it was the first thing I pulled over my head. As the heat of the summer faded into autumn chill, my GAP sweatshirt was there.I LOVED that thing.Then a few years ago, tragedy struck.I'm not even sure what happened. In a moment of weakness, a moment of complete and total insanity, I made a decision.I was so tired of wearing the same clothes all the time! I'd had that stupid thing for 20 years! Twenty!It was about time to move on from that GAP sweatshirt. Angrily, I ripped it off the hanger and added it to a pile of clothes headed to the local community donation center.In the blistering heat of a Texas summer, I drove the fifteen minutes, and emptied my trunk into the donation bins. I went back home, feeling good.Like always, cooler weather made its way back to North Texas. I went to my closet and reached for...what?I reached for my sweatshirt, but nothing was there. Oh, there were sweaters, long-sleeved hoodies, and even other sweatshirts...but I didn't want to wear any of those. I wanted my GAP sweatshirt.It was gone.It made me sad. I really loved that thing.The bigger tragedy is that I think it reflects several character flaws in myself. My husband calls me a chucker. I will admit, I have gotten rid of a great many things. The problem is WHY I do it.Unfortunately, I'm an impatient and impulsive person. I'm working on it, but both those character traits take a LOT of time to change. (ironic, isn't it?). So in those moments of temporary frustration, things I have loved sometimes find their way out of my life.The other flaw is my severe lack of organizational skills. This one is a big one. Because I CANNOT figure out how to organize certain things, they get chucked. Out of sight, out of mind...right?Not really.I remember. And sometimes I get sad because my impulsivity and lack of organization leads to getting rid of something I really needed, or truly loved.Ugh.I wonder if the GAP is having an after-Christmas sale on sweatshirts?