Monday, October 5, 2009

The Final Touch?



[It's a re-post, but it came to mind this morning]

I opened the shower door and reached for a towel this morning.  I barely open the door to avoid the cold air to enter and I am basically blindly picking an available towel.  My luck, I grabbed my favorite towel.  Yes, I have a favorite towel.  This piece of fabric has touched, wrapped and caressed my body since the age of 10.  This towel has gone with me to oh so many places of this wonderful planet and through a lot of life situations. 

My towel wears my most favorite color blue and displays my name on the bottom side.  It traveled with me eleven times to different places in Spain, touched a tip of Portugal, been thirteen times to France, rushed around a corner of Luxemburg,  seen the Netherlands, been all over Germany, enjoyed the water in Switzerland, gone to Austria, Hungry, Poland, has seen tons of America and the U.S. Virgin Islands as well as the B.V. I.’s.  

One can say, my towel and I are inseparable indeed.   It is not the prettiest towel you have ever seen, and it is not huge, nor fluffy.  Wrapping yourself in it does not make you feel as if you are in a spa.  It does not make you feel like soft hands are running all over your body.  None of these hold true for my towel, yet I don’t enjoy another towel more on my skin than this one.   And today, when unfolding my towel in the shower, I had to see, that my towel is succumbing old age.   A hole has formed in the middle of its body.  I have noticed that it has gone thinner over the years; dismissed it as typical wear and tear…  Seeing this hole makes me rather sad, as it only recalls the obvious.  Nothing is safe from getting old and eventually fading away. 

With this hole, memories are starting to fade away.   Often, I would just stay wrapped in my towel and dwell in memories of where we’ve been together or situation we have faced throughout the years.  This towel survived break-ups in which I would lose important documents, baby pictures and other memorabilia, but never did we get separated.   I never made the notion to make sure to safe this towel, it just always happened that way.  

Thirty years this towel was my loyal companion, my servant, my comfort.  Yet again I face the true nature of time.  The cruel presence of age.  And the realization that nothing is forever.

9 comments:

  1. Wow, that towel must of been made of the finest material to last so long. I can relate to what your saying. There are many iems in my life that are new and exciting yet at times I feel more at ease with the old faithful items that have seen the test of time. Have a great week my friend {hugs}x10

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  2. Usually I would be more interested in what wrapped in the towel, but in this case, you have so wonderfully told us the story, that it is a pleasure to hear about such a treasured piece of your life. I smiled the whole time... when I first read it, and here again. Thank you again for sharing it!

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  3. Curt... stupid how a towel can make me all emotional and stuff, eh? the hole is getting bigger and bigger and at some point, i guess, i have to give in and let it go :-(

    Tom... sharing this silly story was easy ;-) and if it makes you smile, even better ;-)

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  4. this towel is so old.......
    but full of memories, and I'm one of this ;-D
    love you

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  5. Example of simple things in life, can bring you joy.. Thanks or sharing..

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  6. Sunshine.. in deed you are a huge memory in the story of my towel ;-) How could you not be.. and those are wonderful memories, aren't they? You still have yours?

    1manview... ah the simple things in life.. yes.. so long we don't take them for granted, right? :-)

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  7. Hey Liane ! Ich kann das voll nachvollziehehen....ich selber habe ein T-Shirt,welches mich schon seit 25 Jahren begleitet und oft ein nützlicher Helfer war. Es war überall bei mir ......egal ,wo ich war ........in Spanien,Frankreich,USA,Polen und zuletzt wieder in Spanien ( Gran Canaria...Player del Ingles ) ....Jedenfalls,ich merke auch,wie jung das Shirt ist ;-) Aber es ist immer bei mir und hat auch schon 2 kleine Löcher.......die gehören aber auch zu mir,wir gehören zusammen......die ganze Zeit und ich hoffe ...noch viel länger ! Es Ist ein T-Shirt von NIKE........rot-schwarz

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  8. Frank.. schoen Dich hier zu sehen ;-) Ich hoffe, Dein T-shirt wird Dir trotz der Loecher noch lange erhalten bleiben und dessen Erinnerungen nicht verloren gehen. Mir wurde vorgeschlagen, ein Stueck von meinem Handtuch einzuramen und somit meine Erinnerungen am Leben zu erhalten.. mal schauen ;-) hey, danke fuer's Lesen and Kommentieren ;-)

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  9. Ich hab Deinen ganzen Blog verfolgt.....deswegen hab ich Dich ja auch manchmal gefragt "Wie geht es Dir ? ".... Ich wollte Dir hier auch in English antworten,aber es ist zu schwierig und zu emotional ,um die richtigen Worte zu finden......ich würde den Teil von Deinem Handtuch unbedingt behalten.....es ist ein Teil von Dir und kann Dein Leben erzählen und weiter begleiten....das soll es auch... Ich mach das auch,habe noch einen Fetzen,den ich nie hergeben würde......ist mein Leben !

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