The Final Embrace — Part Two

Or, how a very pretty suede coat saved my life

I realized that I left out an important part of the previous post which could also be described as my very own personal dark night of the soul — even though it was still day light. Although come to think of it, I AM a vampire of sorts so really in retrospect I shouldn’t have been out at all and the sun was quite blinding but — I digress. What I’m about to write will most likely sound hollow, superficial and shallow *SPOILER ALERT* That’s because it is.

Years ago, a local department store was going out of business. It was, I suppose, what might be referred to as a “mid scale” department store but nothing along the lines of Harrod’s, for example. Anyway, each week I would venture forth into the place, like many others, looking for any bargains, etc.

One day, I spotted this beautiful dark brown suede coat, with faux fur cuffs and hemline which completely served as the inner lining, as well…it was a size small. It was the only size small that the store had. I tried it on and fell in love with it. I felt wrapped in a cocoon and stylish, too. “Gee, how lucky can you get?” BUT, the price was expensive.

Because quite often the maxim is true: “You get what you pay for.”

Or, in this instance, don’t. A store associate saw me try the coat on and then reluctantly hang it back up. She leaned in, whispered to me, “You know, we’re going to be drastically reducing items over the next few weeks as we’ll be closing for good at the…