Wardrobe Malfunctions

Melinda has never been much of a clothes horse.  A t-shirt and stretchy pants do the job, generally.  She has a few quirky preferences, however.  She always wears a bra and socks, even to bed.  Don't ask me when this little habit became a part of her persona, because I have no idea.  She used to wear pants to bed too, under her gown.  I eventually talked her out of the pants, but the bra and socks are a steadfast need.

Stephanie and Miranda have invested hours with Melinda at various thrift stores around town, trying to outfit her with inexpensive, stylish duds for church.  We didn't want to invest too much because Melinda is still losing weight - slowly but surely.  (207 these days!! down from a high of 285)  The girls have bought her some beautiful clothes, and Mama left some very nice items that were large enough for Melinda.  The best laid plans, however . . .

Several times I have arrived to pick up Melinda and been amazed to see what she's not wearing!  Two times, Melinda was wearing a pretty little loosely knitted top that was intended to go over a solid undershirt.  She sort of forgot the undershirt both times.  "Oh, I forgot.  I thought this was fine."  We realized we were seeing waaaay too much of Melinda.  A quick dash by me into her apartment and a quick change in the car with the open car door blocking neighbors' eyes remedied the situation, and all was well for another trip to church.

This morning, Melinda was wearing her "Buddy Break" t-shirt because they were honoring in the church service volunteers who work with this ministry.  I had mine on too.  Melinda had worn hers the day before, though, not realizing that she needed to wear the shirt on Sunday.  I had forgotten to tell her.  I asked her over the phone whether she had a clean Buddy Break shirt to wear on Sunday, and she said she did.  When I arrived to pick her up, I realized she had food stains from the day before all over the front.  Again, we had to arrange a quick change.  I drove home, where Kim was waiting in the driveway for us.  I made them wait while I ran into the house to retrieve Mama's Buddy Break shirt.  We did another quick change in the driveway, with the car doors blocking the neighbors' eyes.  While I was working to make the size-large t-shirt stretch to cover the extra-large body, I noticed Melinda had her bra on inside out.

"Melinda, your bra is on inside-out."

"Oh, I wasn't wearing my glasses when I put it on."

"Maybe you should make sure you're wearing your glasses when you get dressed."

"You're probably right."

Later in Sunday school, I noticed that her socks were on with the heel facing upward.  She hardly had any sock covering one of her feet inside her dark-blue Crocs.

"Melinda, I think you have your socks on with the heel on the top instead of over your heels."

"Oh, I thought I had them on right."

"I guess not."

"Oh.  I thought they were fine."

"We should celebrate, really.  It wasn't so long ago that you couldn't put your own socks on at all."

"That's right.  I can do it now."

Melinda joining the church last week.

"You sure can."