Sock merger

By Lisa A. Eramo

The other day, my partner noticed that I was wearing her socks. Was I really? Is it true? I pulled up my pant legs to check it out.

Sure enough, she was right.

The subtle pattern that distinguished her black socks from the plain non-patterned version of my own was apparent. I was officially a sock thief. Is there such a thing as one who steals socks? Clearly I had good intentions and simply mistook them for my own.

Throughout the course of our increasingly merged cohabitation over the last 18 months, our socks have gradually migrated from two separate drawers into one. It's as though the socks, having watched our two lives become intertwined, decided to do the same. Taking the time to sort through and separate our socks into their respective drawers after jointly washing our laundry just seemed like a waste of time after a while. The sisterhood of socks were determined to stick together. Who was I to disband their unity?

Don't get my wrong, of course we keep our shirts, pants, and bras separately stored in our individual closets, but even that could change down the road. Don't people always say that the more time you spend together, the more you start to look alike or even dress alike? At least our height differences (my partner is nearly 6 inches taller than me) will prevent further confusion even when our outfits, shoes, socks, and hairstyles match.

As for now, we look at our mismatched socks as a sort of game. We chide each other about our merged socks. When reaching into the abyss that is the sock drawer, we never know what we're going to get. Would the pair be hers? Would they be mine? Heck, would they even match (we all know how often our black socks actually match)? More importantly, did it matter?

Living together means merging with someone else and allowing yourself to incorporate that person into your life--socks and all. It means sharing your belongings as well as your hopes and fears. Every time I open the sock drawer, I'm reminded of this, and I can't help but smile.