Pageant Question 1: What is the oldest article of clothing in your closet? Why is it still there?

Unlike Elsa from Disney's Frozen, I can never "Let It Go".  I am a packrat, and I have saved everything I could.  If it's missing, it wasn't my fault, and I will be trying to find a replacement.  The oldest article of clothing in my closet is, technically, baby clothes, though I also have t-shirts from elementary school, hats I wore in middle school, totally tubular 80s clothes from high school, and jeans, sweaters, dresses, skirts, accessories through all the years until now.  Why?  Because I am ultra empathetic.  I not only worry about how other people feel, I worry about things.  Yes.  Even things.

Being empathetic towards other people can be good, and it can be psychologically detrimental.  On Sundays after church, we would go to Tops and my brother and I would usually join my mom in shopping while my dad would drive across to the gas station to fill up.  I would often choose to stay with my dad because, and I remember saying this, "He might get lonely."  Being aware how others feel is good, as long as you don't have to worry about how they feel.  Compulsively.  Tortuously.  All night long.  I have learned not to worry as much, but it can still crop up.  But even the worrying about people can be understood; not so much the worrying about things.

Would my Ponytail Softball t-shirts feel bad if I donated them?  Nooo........YES!  Why should I hang on to that sweater from high school?  Because I know what it's been through, and I couldn't leave it on its own.  It's been with me for so long!  And what about those baby clothes: the oldest articles of clothing in my closet.  My parents received many of them before I was born.  My mom and dad held onto them and trusted them to me when I was old enough.  I put them on my dolls.  I saved them.  I have pictures of me in them.  They are imbued with my baby years and all the love of my parents and grandparents, and how could I ever get rid of those little, flounced, pastel dresses that meant so much?  I can't.  Because I have a psychologically crippling amount of empathy.

I know that my empathy towards other people has helped me interact with and care for others.  I also know that it has caused me many sleepless nights.  My empathy towards inanimate objects has caused me to become a packrat, including clothes that I cannot wear, like my baby dresses.  I believe the world needs more empathy.  If people were as concerned about the feelings of others as I am concerned about the feelings of a snowsuit I had in 1973, the world would be a peaceful, if slightly more worried, place.