It's just over two weeks since my mother passed away. According to Jewish Law, I'm not even half way through shloshim, the thirty days of mourning restrictions counted from burial, not death. That is unless the mourner doesn't attend the funeral, a situation in which the mourner begins shiva and shloshim with the announcement of the death.
Two days after I got up from shiva, the seven days of mourning in which the mourner is supposed to be cared for to facilitate mourning, I was back at work in Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin. Of course I could have delayed my return to work, but lihavdil like napping and sleeping late when suffering from jetlag, it wouldn't have done me any good. Well, davka, on that day, when I was trying to reorient myself to the new stock, sales etc. in addition to jetlag and my mourning status, halachik (Jewish Law) and emotional, I suddenly noticed that my shirt, which has the store's logo, had a seam ripped.
I kept hoping that it wasn't noticeable to others, but everyone saw it. My boss told me to get another one, even two new ones, since that one was two years old. I've been working there two and a half years. One of the restrictions on mourners during shloshim and when mourning parents for a year is not getting new clothes. I felt paralyzed and just couldn't go through looking for another shirt that fit in the same size and color. My friends who work with me took over. One found a shirt and another wore it, so it wouldn't be halachikly new. They ironed on the store logo and told me that the shirt was ready.
Thank G-d for good friends!
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