What are your two favourite things to wear?
If you asked me for my two favourite things to wear, the answer doesn’t come from my current wardrobe. It comes instead from two garments that hold stories — one formal and academic, the other casual and sun-faded — each stitched with memory.
1. The Graduation Gown
I don’t get to wear my graduation gown anymore. Our college doesn’t have a high table, and I no longer attend graduations in the way I once did. But in my previous role I was present at every ceremony, slipping into those bright, colourful robes with a sense of quiet satisfaction.
They took years to earn, and I was determined to enjoy them. One wag once said I looked like Captain America, which I took as a compliment — if you’re going to wear academic dress, you may as well wear it boldly.
The gown carries the story of long nights, heavy books, mentors, questions, discoveries, and the strange joy of persistence. When I wore it, I felt connected to a long line of scholars and teachers, all trying in their own way to understand the world and offer something back.
2. The Rugby Cap
At the other end of the spectrum is my ACT Brumbies rugby cap. It’s simple, casual, and — according to my wife, a NSW Waratahs fan — aesthetically questionable. But the cap has a story stitched into it that matters to me.
Years ago, a friend of ours was chaplain to the Brumbies. When he was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer in 2011, we travelled down to see him, fearing that things might turn quickly. He organised tickets to the rugby that night, and gave me one of the team caps.
Fifteen years later, he’s still with us. The treatment worked. His children have all married. He has grandchildren. And every time I wear that cap, I think of that season — of uncertainty, of loyalty, of answered prayers — and I’m grateful.
The cap reminds me that some stories don’t end the way you fear they will.
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A gown and a rugby cap. One marking achievement, the other marking friendship and answered prayer. Both have travelled with me through different chapters of life, and though I wear neither of them often, they are, in their own ways, my favourite things to put on — not for how they look, but for what they represent.
The Afterword 
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