A lost sock obituary Mabel's Stripe

Mabel owns a label maker and has used it on most things. The spice jars, the fuse box, the lid of the butter dish, and the inside of her reading glasses case, which says READING GLASSES. Her daughter reports that the sock drawer has a label on the front and dividers inside.

The striped socks were the exception. They were a gift in 2017, cotton with thin horizontal stripes in blue, cream, and a red that Mabel called "a bit much." She wore them anyway, on Sundays. She never labeled them. She said anyone could tell they were hers by the stripes.

In June 2024 one of them went missing from the shared washing machine in the basement of her building. The building has six apartments, one machine, and a schedule taped to the wall. It turned out that everyone could indeed tell the socks were Mabel's by the stripes, and that nobody had seen them.

Inquiries were made, first on the stairs and then by note. They were politely dropped. Relations in the building remain good.

Its partner now has a label. It says MABEL.