A friend, also a member here, was recently involved in an accident.
I had, since 1994, been wearing (daily for about 10 years, then occasionally after) a leather bomber jacket my brother picked up in Korea. A good clone of an English brand with a zip-in liner, it'd been everywhere with me from Israel to all over Europe and used for just about everything imaginable. It no longer fit, which, considering I'd acquired it at age 17 and am now 35, is not surprising.
I donated it to my bomber-jacket-loving friend, who is considerably smaller and petite. On her, it's way too big. So she took to wearing it as an over-layer over several other layers for extremely cold/windy days. Given I have 3 inches in height and nearly 90 lbs in weight size difference over her, there, it fits and works well.
Last weekend she was a passenger in a car that lost an argument with a deer. Driver was fine with minor scratches and shaken up.
Deer came through the windshield on her side and the EMT's had to cut the jacket off. Doctor's statement was the leather saved her life from the flying glass (lots) and the deer's hooves (very sharp, and flailing around since it wondered where the hell that Honda came from......).
She was more worried about the jacket being destroyed than anything else, since I had given it to her with the proviso I would only ask for it back if I had a son (at that time, highly unlikely..... he's now 2 months from birth).
I told her don't worry about the jacket, it's replaceable, she's not.
Good belongings keep a lot of memories. That jacket has many of them, including seeing the sun come up over Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a few weddings and too many wakes. But the way the jacket died is the best one, because it saved someone I care about's life.
Take care of your stuff. One day, it may save your life, or someone else's.
I had, since 1994, been wearing (daily for about 10 years, then occasionally after) a leather bomber jacket my brother picked up in Korea. A good clone of an English brand with a zip-in liner, it'd been everywhere with me from Israel to all over Europe and used for just about everything imaginable. It no longer fit, which, considering I'd acquired it at age 17 and am now 35, is not surprising.
I donated it to my bomber-jacket-loving friend, who is considerably smaller and petite. On her, it's way too big. So she took to wearing it as an over-layer over several other layers for extremely cold/windy days. Given I have 3 inches in height and nearly 90 lbs in weight size difference over her, there, it fits and works well.
Last weekend she was a passenger in a car that lost an argument with a deer. Driver was fine with minor scratches and shaken up.
Deer came through the windshield on her side and the EMT's had to cut the jacket off. Doctor's statement was the leather saved her life from the flying glass (lots) and the deer's hooves (very sharp, and flailing around since it wondered where the hell that Honda came from......).
She was more worried about the jacket being destroyed than anything else, since I had given it to her with the proviso I would only ask for it back if I had a son (at that time, highly unlikely..... he's now 2 months from birth).
I told her don't worry about the jacket, it's replaceable, she's not.
Good belongings keep a lot of memories. That jacket has many of them, including seeing the sun come up over Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a few weddings and too many wakes. But the way the jacket died is the best one, because it saved someone I care about's life.
Take care of your stuff. One day, it may save your life, or someone else's.
, so now it stays in my closet, and comes out when I take my kid for a ride on my Harley.
