I know I am growing old every time I take a shower and find a few more hairs in the drain and a few less on my head. I also see what used to be a strong, healthy body in the mirror beginning to sag and turn gray. I understand there is absolutely nothing I can do about getting older but why does my mind have to stay forever young while my body succumbs to time? Can anyone guess I just went past another birthday? This one felt like every other, with the exception of one birthday gift. My sister-in-law decided it was time I sat my butt down on a newer and better beach chair. It has a higher back, was made of plastic and, unlike my old beach chair, it had over 12 different settings for maximum comfort.

For some reason this gift represented everything I did not want, because I was getting old. To understand these feelings it is important to go back to the time when I first purchased my only favorite chair. My wife and I were shopping at Bradlees in Newington. Back then you had to go to New Hampshire or up to Portland to buy anything. It had nothing to do with how much things cost. There simply weren’t any local stores back in the early 1980’s where you could buy a beach chair. I remember we wandered around the store for about an hour picking up things we needed when I chanced upon a small display of summer clearance items. It must have been September because I remember it being cool and my beach days for the year were behind me.

There happened to be a few beach chairs on display and I noticed a blue one on the floor. I picked it up and saw that it was a bit stained and had a small tear in the fabric. I asked a clerk if she would give me a deal on it since it was damaged and she told me she would sell it to me for half price. Wow! I thought. Even if it only lasted me through one season it would still be a great deal at only $5. I took the chair back to my wife like a kid with a new toy and, within the hour, it was in the trunk of our car and we were on our way home. When I got home I left my chair, still wrapped in its plastic cocoon, on a nail under the deck, to be retrieved next spring and used throughout the summer of 1981.