We all know that life is one big transition. I think one of the biggest passages is when parents become your children.

Tom and I were married in 2012 (16 months after we met). It was a wonderful celebration- church wedding and all with both of my parents walking me down the isle. So many people were Wow…look at her parents!!! They were a striking couple with high energy. Dad and I had a father-daughter dance to “Unforgettable” and people were amazed watching a 90 year old twirl me around the dance floor. Three months later (almost to the day) he was diagnosed with cancer. So began a 2 year (almost to the day) journey to his life’s end. We were there just about every weekend and all vacation days through 2 surgeries, taking care of medication, appointments, fixing meals et al. During this time my mom started to loose short term memory which was probably God’s way of getting her through losing the love of her life since 1945.  I try to see something good coming out of tough times. Through all of this, my brother Bob and I have become closer than we ever were. I now consider him right up there in the best friend category and I have also gained a new appreciation for my sister-in-law Joyce. Things are starting to get back to normal now…a new normal. I retired 6 weeks before my Dad passed away. Mom is now settled in assisted living and enjoying all the activities which is so much better for her than hanging out with us all day!! She is living one town over from us and we visit several times during the week. And now we get to have dinner with my brother once a week when he comes to NJ to see Mom!!

You are probably saying, Elaine I thought this blog was going to be about style…I’m getting to it!!

My mantra is Get up…Dress up…Show up. When there are times that you feel like your energy is running out, one way to help yourself out is to care about what you are wearing!  Sound shallow? Try it!! It works. See how much better you feel when someone compliments you. When we moved mom into assisted living she was not exactly thrilled with the arrangement. But I kept arranging her closet for her and suggesting she wear outfits she always enjoyed wearing…and you know what? She started a trend among the women at her residence to pull their outfits together! I started seeing more scarfs and jewelry!! One of the people there said if Ralph Lauren ever needed a 90 year old model it would be my mom!!

So…my point is that fashion plays an important part in every day living.  As Bill Blass said, “When in doubt, wear red”.