20...

I bet right now, there's a piece of clothing lurking in the back of your closet that doesn't quite fit anymore, but that you can't bear to get rid of. There's a little voice that pops up every time you look at it, promising that you'll lose that extra weight and wear it again... someday. Every year or so, I try to cull my clothing collection, ridding myself of clothes I haven't worn recently, or won't wear again -- it's the only way to keep my closet even remotely manageable. Even so, there are a few select items that make the cut year after year, because some little part of me can't let go of them, even though they haven't fit in years.

Generally, my weight is not a topic I care to talk about. It's something I've been battling almost my entire life, but not a struggle I like to share with others. I can count on one hand the number of people I've opened up to about it over the years. So I'm not going to go into a deep, soul-baring discussion of it here. However, people have been mentioning it with increasing frequency of late, because they've been noticing a certain change in my appearance.

I've lost twenty pounds in the last six months. I haven't been on a diet per se, so I can't really explain to you how it happened, other than the benefits of therapy, and the effects of having a great boyfriend. By finding new ways to reduce and manage my stress and anxiety through therapy, and finding tremendous joy in my personal life, I find myself relying less on food for comfort.

As a result, I was poking around in my closet today, looking for something to wear, and on a whim, I reached for a skirt that's been languishing there since I was a sophomore in college, circa 2004. It hadn't fit in years, but I always loved it, and I'd been secretly hoping I'd get a chance to wear it again. With my heart racing, I pulled it on, and lo and behold, the zipper zipped and the buttons buttoned! I was so happy I very nearly cried...

So here it is, the skirt that I've been saving for the better part of a decade. It might not look like anything particularly special to you, but to me, it symbolizes a lot, and I'm proud to show it off to all of you today.