Page 101 - Philly Girl

Philly Girl 85

I Stand Here Ironing

Italian Cotton Sheets

Give me expensive Italian cotton bed linens and I am a happy
sleeper. I like them ironed, with a faint scent of verbena linen
water. Freshly ironed Italian Frette linen—so cool, crisp, and
clean. Sleep on these sheets and it’s as if you are in a five-
star hotel, but in the comfort of your own home. I spend
an entire day washing my Frette sheets in special Victoria’s
Secret Laundry detergent (which, sad to say, has been dis-
continued). I time the dryer cycle so that it is still damp
when I start ironing. I take out the spray bottle of linen water
and take my time, ironing and spraying. It is a meditation. I
become silent and calm, pleasurably anticipating that night’s
sleep. Crawling into bed and experiencing … perfection.
One summer in Naples, traveling with my son Jesse, I
spotted Frette linens at a fantastic price! But we were late
for our train to Pompeii, and my son pressed me forward. I
regret passing up what seemed to be an irresistible bargain.
I wished for a second pair of sheets, so that when I spend
my entire day washing and ironing my beloved first pair, I
could replace them with a nice clean second pair. There was
no time to buy that second pair that day, and so I only have
the one set. In my final days, I hope to be on a clean cool
ironed set of Frette sheets. Let me drift off gently into that
good night, with the faint scent of verbena water in the air.