13 pairs of gloves

I have been packing up clothes and things that she can no longer use... when you are bed-bound, you don't wear wool suits or heels, and you don't need a purse. (She's convinced she has no money; we have given up on that one.) Linens. Clothing. Dishes. Pots and pans. A refrigerator full of molding food (we thought she'd go through rehab and then go home...)

But what did me in this afternoon was the 13 pairs of gloves (I counted them) which were in a box of winter clothes. Four pairs were ones she had been given for Christmas. The tags were still on them. Thirteen pairs of gloves.

They are all going to the interfaith center next week.

Thirteen pairs of gloves.

Oh God
May I not be so selfish and focused on me that I hoard up for myself treasures on earth. Thirteen pairs of gloves is only a reminder that I am far too self-focused as well...

But still.
13 pairs of gloves...