The Shirt Off His Back

When I was a customer service trainer in the banking industry, one of my trainee-graduates kept telling me that he wanted to meet his friend. A few meetings were set up and cancelled, and I didn't get my hopes up for anything happening. One day, I was invited over to meet my former trainee's family, and Trent was invited to stop over as well. He was not told that I would be coming over, so he was rather unprepared. He seemed like a nice guy, if a bit grumpy, and was kind enough to give me a lift home. During the course of the evening, I learned that he would be starting in the next training class.

Poor Trent. I remember one morning he stopped by the office before class and, speaking right past my two office mates, said that breakfast sandwiches had been two-for-one, would I like one? I told him matter-of-factly (and truthfully) that I had already had breakfast, but I knew that my co-trainer was hungry and would really appreciate having a sandwich. Accepting temporary defeat, he handed the sandwich over and went on to training class. The girls teased me about him daily. "Trent just lights up when you go in the training room!" or "Why does Trent bring you treats and not the rest of us?"

One day, when the class was on a break, my co-trainer and I went outside to the smoking area because she really needed a smoke (I never touch the stuff) and we needed to chat for a few minutes. Trent showed up while we were outside, but we didn't mind because we weren't talking about anything private. The only problem I was having was that I was freezing. It was early March and I had gone outside without a coat. I was wearing a lightweight dress with short sleeves, and standing outside shivering. Trent looked at me and saw that I was chilled. He was wearing a t-shirt with a button-down shirt over it. Without a word, he took off his shirt and placed it on my shoulders. It was very unexpected and kind, and impressed me quite a bit. In fact, I told the class that I wasn't going to name any names, but there was someone in the class that was such a gentleman that he had given me the shirt off his back.

I had dinner plans that evening with a friend, and told her that she would not believe what had happened to me that day. When I finished with the story, she said, "You better watch out; you could end up marrying a guy like that!" Six months later, we took a trip to Las Vegas and got married. The rest, as they say, is hysteria, and next month will be our thirteenth anniversary. After all this time, we can still laugh at the other person's silly jokes. No, we don't always agree with each other. But we are still plugging along. And I think he would still give me the shirt off his back!