Deja vu - A Winter Parka

I am sitting in my now-less-than-favourite Starbucks. It is Saturday morning and I have been idly watching an older gentleman sitting across the store in the comfy chairs (that don't have electrical outlet access).

I've seen him here before and he always struck me as being on the edge of homelessness. He has a backpack on the floor next to him and just sits there and stares out the window. He has a ball cap on his head and goes outside to smoke every once in a while.

This last time he went outside I noticed that his coat looked familiar. Very familiar. I sharpened my attention and realized with a start that he was wearing my old winter parka! The one that I donated to the Hospice Society Thirft Shoppe last week! It is a turqouise colour with a dark blue lining - rather noticeable. My goodness. The gentleman eventually came back into the coffee shop and I looked at the coat again - yup the toggles were the same. The same flap on the back. The same hood closure. It was my old coat.

I have been on a decluttering kick recently and the parka came under serious scrutiny. I had bought it back in the 90s when I lived up north and the temperature would drop to -30C. I wore it a few times after moving to Calgary but since moving to the balmy West Coast, have had no use for it. I pulled it out of the closet last week and stared at it. Did I really need it? I never wore it. It was still in impeccable shape. I would let it go and let someone else use it.

I never suspected that I would see it again so soon. I wonder how it ended up on the back of this gentleman? Did the Hospice Shoppe give it to the local "coat fund" which provides coats, scarves and gloves to low-income folks? Whatever its history might be, I'm glad that it has found a new lease on life and is keeping someone else toasty warm.