White Coat and Purple Shirts

My son has a lot of purple shirts. Maybe 5 or more. We are not of royal blood (or maybe we are), he just wants to wear the color of royalty.

Purple was not his favorite color when he was a boy. I know that as a fact.

There was an instance when he was 3 years old, and we were in Arizona at that time. I was attending a conference and my family came along with me. Then one night, my son started having difficulty breathing and wheezing. Being a lung doctor, I knew exactly what was going on. It was the first time we found out that he has asthma.

We hurriedly brought him to the Emergency Room. There they treated him with a nebulizer (asthma medicine given via mist) and his breathing improved. However, even when his breathing got much easier, he was still sobbing. When we asked what was the problem, he pointed to the pediatric nebulizer mask, which was shaped like a dinosaur snout, which is cute, but it was colored purple.

He said, “It’s purple, but I’m a boy.”

To him purple is not for boys. Silly kid!

Maybe that’s why he was not a fan of Barney, the purple dinosaur.

Funny it all changed now. I mean, him liking the color purple, not Barney.

Why he often wears purple shirts these days has a back story too.

In June 2021, a couple of weeks after my son’s graduation from high school, we went for a vacation. COVID was still rampant at that time and travel was still limited in some parts of the country and the world, so we were not able to plan way ahead of time. Only 3 days before my scheduled 1-week off, did we decide to drive to Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Good thing we were still able to find a place to stay for such a short notice. We stayed in Wyoming for 4 days and we did nature hikes every day.

On our first day of hiking, it just so happened that my son was wearing a purple t-shirt. His one and only purple shirt at that time.

On our second day, he was wearing the same t-shirt again. My wife was kind of annoyed with him for wearing the same shirt, knowing that we hiked several miles the previous day and he most likely drenched it with sweat.

I did not think much about it, I just assumed that my son did not bring many shirts and he was trying to conserve his clothes. Maybe not the most hygienic practice, but he will not get sick and definitely will not die for wearing a “dirty” shirt.

That night when we were back in our rented 2-bedroom accommodation and were ready to sleep, I heard a silent hum of a motor. I looked around at the living room and in the kitchen, and finally found that it was the washing machine which was hidden inside an unassuming closet. I did not even know we have a washing machine and dryer in that rented place. I realized that my son was washing his shirt every night without letting us know. But I kept this matter to myself.

On the third day, as I expected, my son was wearing the same purple t-shirt. He was wearing a silly grin too. His mother was exasperated with him for wearing the same ‘stinky’ shirt 3 days in a row. I did not spill the beans and just flashed my knowing smile. It was our “dirty” little secret.

On the fourth day, he wore the same purple t-shirt (photo below), because – why not?! His mother was ready to disown him for such a “disgusting” behavior. Of course my son washed his shirt the night before, but his mother just did not know it.

It was not after the trip that we finally reveal to my wife that he was washing his shirt every night, and just wearing the same t-shirt to amuse or annoy her.

Since then, all through his college days, my son would wear a purple t-shirt every time he comes home from the university, which is every weekend, as an act of endearment to his mom.

I may have contributed to this unusual habit as I bought him a couple more purple t-shirts, as his original purple shirt was getting raggedy. My daughter, also jumped into the bandwagon and also gifted his brother purple shirts for Christmas. My son’s college friends have also noticed that he was always wearing purple so they also gave him one as a gift.

And that’s how he collected a wardrobe of purple shirts.

Now that he has moved to California for medical school, we would see him less often for sure, as he would not be coming home every weekend, even how much we wish he could. We would be lucky if we see him twice or thrice a year at the most. Would that mean he would not be wearing purple anymore?

Last week, my son and wife spent 3 days on the road as they drove from Iowa to California, a distance of 1630 miles for his move. Guess what my son wore? He wore purple t-shirts every single day the entire trip, much to the amusement or annoyance of his mother.

But today, my son will be wearing a different color.

He will be wearing white.

For today is his White Coat Ceremony. This signify his formal induction and commitment to the medical profession.

To celebrate this momentous event I bought a special shirt to wear to attend the ceremony.

I am wearing purple.