Why I Cried When I saw Gatsby's Shirts

Sitting in Gatsby’s room, looking around, seeing his face and the huge smile across it took me back five years ago before he went off to war. I was in love with that boy, head over heels in love. When Tom came around, I simply could not wait for Gatsby to return from overseas anymore, and I fell in love with Tom, well I thought it was love. I had settled for Tom because my heart was starting to hurt while waiting for Gatsby, and Tom was the one who helped to put it back together again. I figured Gatsby had met some other woman, and that is why he was not coming back to the States for me. The day after Gatsby was sent off to war, started a dark time in my life, I was alone and scared, yet still in love. To find out that after five years that Gatsby was still head over heels for me, was overwhelming. The matter of being in his house, with him, in his room with him just felt right. I suddenly regretted my choice of being with Tom. I regretted abandoning true love for the past five years. I felt guilt and remorse, but I also felt true happiness. At that moment I knew that it was Gatsby that I should have been standing next to for the past five years and that is why I cried. I looked around at his possessions, his house, his smile and I realized that it was all for me. This man had spent the last five years of his life just to win me back and he had. This is why I cried while looking at his shirts, not because of the beauty of his shirts, but the beauty of Gatsby.