Goodbye, Tinman
I lost a shirt today.
I don't mean I misplaced a shirt. I lost it.
When I was attending Taylor University one of the many "official" activities was a triathlon. It was named Tinman to play off the Ironman Triathlon name, which is ridiculously awesome, and in Hawaii. Tinman was not *quite* as rigorous, but it was still intense for amateurs like me, with a 100m swim, a 13 mile bike ride, and a 5k run. I participated my Junior and Senior years, not doing very well (mainly because of weak biking, and weak swimming....), though I always performed rather well in the 5k at the end. My junior year the shirt they gave was incredible. It had an awesome blue triangle on the front with little green rounded stick figures at the vertices performing the different activities, and it said Tinman on the back. It was a perfect weight of cotton, too - it felt great. It quickly ascending to 1st-tier rank in my t-shirt rotation.
That was 6 years ago, and the years have not been kind. The lettering on the back was almost indistinguishable. The collar was tattered and frayed. The little stick figures were becoming separated from the surrounding fabric, as if they were sending me a message that it was time to move on. Yet, I resisted. I knew the feeling of comfort, and the memories, that the shirt provided were nigh irreplaceable. So it soldiered on, wearing it around the house, and sometimes underneath another shirt in a casual setting.
I changed the oil in the two cars today. I made a mess of it, as I often do, and the Shirt of Incredibleness took a big hit. So, with a heavy heart and a tear in my eye, I retired Tinman, after 6 years of faithful service, to the tune of Taps (thanks to Jen for the humming).
Goodbye, Tinman.
I don't mean I misplaced a shirt. I lost it.
When I was attending Taylor University one of the many "official" activities was a triathlon. It was named Tinman to play off the Ironman Triathlon name, which is ridiculously awesome, and in Hawaii. Tinman was not *quite* as rigorous, but it was still intense for amateurs like me, with a 100m swim, a 13 mile bike ride, and a 5k run. I participated my Junior and Senior years, not doing very well (mainly because of weak biking, and weak swimming....), though I always performed rather well in the 5k at the end. My junior year the shirt they gave was incredible. It had an awesome blue triangle on the front with little green rounded stick figures at the vertices performing the different activities, and it said Tinman on the back. It was a perfect weight of cotton, too - it felt great. It quickly ascending to 1st-tier rank in my t-shirt rotation.
That was 6 years ago, and the years have not been kind. The lettering on the back was almost indistinguishable. The collar was tattered and frayed. The little stick figures were becoming separated from the surrounding fabric, as if they were sending me a message that it was time to move on. Yet, I resisted. I knew the feeling of comfort, and the memories, that the shirt provided were nigh irreplaceable. So it soldiered on, wearing it around the house, and sometimes underneath another shirt in a casual setting.
I changed the oil in the two cars today. I made a mess of it, as I often do, and the Shirt of Incredibleness took a big hit. So, with a heavy heart and a tear in my eye, I retired Tinman, after 6 years of faithful service, to the tune of Taps (thanks to Jen for the humming).
Goodbye, Tinman.