By Lee Scott
Last summer I was able to attend a family birthday party for my grandson Finnegan. After he opened the large gift box from me, he looked at me with an expression that read, “What?”
In the box was a classic blue blazer wrapped in tissue paper. Then he opened the card on top. On the card, I wrote that it was time he started wearing a blue blazer to certain functions, and I wanted to be the person to present him with his first one. (There was also cash in the card.)
Now this child has had suits before, but this classic blue blazer was his first. I told him I wanted a picture of the two of us together dressed up.
That is when my daughter chimed in, “Finn, this present was for your grandmother more than you.” (She knows me so well.)
But it was not long before he was walking around posing for us like a model in GQ magazine. Then my daughter took out her old wedding album and he saw photos of all the men in his family who were wearing their blue blazers.
“They look good,” he announced.
The next morning when we walked into his school and his friends saw him, they started making comments. Maybe it was his look of confidence or his manly swagger they noticed, but both male and female said, “Looking good, Finn.”
I was reminded again of how much I love classic blue blazers while attending a large book club gathering. A retired FBI agent who introduced the author was wearing his blue blazer. He looked so confident and polished as he stood up at the podium. The Naval Academy ring just added to the look.
Then there is the young boy at my church who wears his blue blazer every Sunday. He stands there passing out bulletins to the church members. Everyone greets him as if he were much older.
As for me, I too have my classic blue blazer. When I wore it to a girls’ lunch recently they all commented on how much they all like blue blazers.
Several months after Finn opened the birthday gift, my daughter called to tell me that she was getting ready for a family wedding when she heard Finnegan calling, “Mom, where is my blue blazer?” He knew the men would all be wearing a blazer and he wanted to wear his too.
For me, there will always be times for both men and women to don a nice pair of slacks and a blue blazer. And I know one 9-year-old who agrees with me, because he called to let me know he is growing, and his blue blazer is getting a bit small.
