Those Old Shirts

Today, I noticed three older adults, all of whom were wearing very worn shirts.  The shirts grabbed my attention because in each case, they were obviously from some athletic event that the person had previously participated in.

The first shirt was worn by a lovely lady, in very great shape, who was visiting the dog park.  Her shirt was from a 1992 Marathon in Tucson.  

The second was worn by an older gentleman, who walked in a bent position. His t-shirt commemorated a race up Mt. Tamalpais.  For those of you who don't know, "Mt. Tam", as it is fondly called by locals in the San Francisco Bay area, is a beautiful peak, north of the Golden Gate Bridge, that rises some 2300 feet.  It is a favorite for hikers, bikers and joggers and a very challenging adventure for anybody who tackles it.  I once rode it myself!

The third shirt was a cycling shirt worn by a grey-bearded gentleman who was struggling up a steep hill in Tucson on his bicycle.  It was from the University of Colorado cycling team in Boulder, CO.

Why do we save and wear these old shirts and discard garments that are much newer?  I believe the reason is that these shirts remind us that we were once younger and stronger and could do more than we can today.   But they also are a way of identifying with feats that we are very proud of having accomplished.  

It's not only us "older folks" who cherish these shirts.  One of my sons is a bicycle racer when he's not being a very busy lawyer or a loving father.   He's been racing for twenty-seven years.   On the days he's around the house, he is likely to appear in a torn and tattered shirt from one of his earliest bike races.  The sleeves are usually cut off; the material is worn thin by hundreds of washings, but he certainly loves those shirts.  He still races today, but I don't see him wear his "newer" collection of shirts-perhaps they'll make an appearance in another twenty years.

So, even if we ride up the hill more slowly, walk instead of run. hang out in the pool on a "noodle" instead of "doing laps", we are still doing something we love.  And those old clothes do come in handy for these activities, except maybe for that bikini some of us girls wore when we were a size 5 or 7!