The Elastic Was Almost Useless

My father-in-law's funeral was today. The visitation was from two o'clock until the funeral started at four o'clock. This was good for me, since we are giving standardized tests, and it is almost impossible for a teacher to be absent during test week. My planning period is the last period of the school day, and our school librarian took my last class so that I could leave school early and meet the family at the funeral home.

I went to visit my mother-in-law yesterday. She and I have been good friends since we first met, and we have in more in common now that we've both lost a husband. We are both practical and organized, and the first thing I asked her was if she had decided what she was going to wear. She had, and asked me if I thought a pants suit would be all right. I assured her that it would be fine, and did she know what shoes she planned to wear. She said she had picked out a pair that would be comfortable since she knew she'd have to stand and greet people as they came through to pay their condolences. I told her that since she was wearing pants and I was wearing a long skirt, we could wear knee high hose instead of pantyhose, and she agreed.

I carried my funeral clothes to school with me, and went to the ladies' restroom to change before leaving school. I had packed everything in my Mickey Mouse tote bag (teachers always have cute tote bags, and I've never met a tote bag I didn't like...), including my knee high hose. A voice inside my head told me to bring TWO pairs of knee highs, and it was a good thing that I listened to that voice...one of my knee highs ended up in the toilet (I'm not exactly sure how it happened...but it did), so I was glad for a spare. However, when I pulled on the knee highs, I realized that the elastic was not very good. I must have had the hose for longer than I thought, and apparently knee high elastic is not permanent in its elasticity.

I mingled with family and friends for the two hours before the service, and tried to be subtle as I checked on my hose to be sure they had not puddled around my ankles. I visited with my husband's best friend's widow, my elder stepson (who went through a painful divorce just after his father passed away), my mother-in-law's rather eccentric sister, and the minister who had conducted my husband's funeral. The service was lovely, and just the right length. My brother-in-law is a minister of music, and he had recorded two songs for his father's service. There were no graveside services, so we all met at my in-laws' church for an early dinner. I kept a check on my hose through it all, and did not have an ankle puddle until I was changing clothes in my bedroom.

The moral of the story? Knee high elastic is a small example of the greater philosophy--nothing lasts forever...