The Pink Striped Towel

   C and I attended a Toastmasters party recently. One of the party games we played was for each of us to write down one thing that no one else knows. These would be read off and others would have to guess who the person is.
  This was not easy for me. I'd been a member of the group for a long time. Most of my speeches and Table Topics tend to be stories from my life. There isn't a whole lot that group members don't know. I originally thought that I would write down that my nickname as a child was "motor mouth" because I used to talk too much. I decided that I really didn't want to use that. It was kind of a painful nickname and I still think I talk way too much. Then it occurred to me. I always travel with a pink striped towel.
  The towel was a high school graduation present from my Aunt Mari. It wasn't my favourite present. I thought it was a little silly. A towel, big deal. Aunt Mari told me that I would think of her whenever I used it. She was right. It is one of two things that I got when I graduated that I still have and I do think of her every time I use it.
   When I was in high school I liked to read Douglas Adams "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy". One of the things it says in the Hitchhiker's Guide is that a towel is a useful thing that you should have with you all the time. In fact a person who has it all together is a person who "knows where their towel is" I liked that. I wanted to be a person who had it together. I decided that I would always know where my towel was.
  The pink striped towel was a natural choice. It is a big towel more like a bath sheet. It could be very useful.
   The towel came with me to North Dakota State and stayed with me all five years I was there. It moved with me once I graduated. It went on every trip I ever took.
  I liked taking it with me when I would go to the hotel pool or hot tub. I would have to take my glasses off in order to swim. I knew once I came out of the water I could always see my towel.
  My towel has taken some great trips. It came with me on my first trip alone. I drove around North Dakota into Montana over to South Dakota and then home. I took it with me on my first trip alone to Door County. I remember I was sick and freezing cold. I went to the hotel hot tub to try to warm up. My towel was close by.
  I went to Europe with a friend for three weeks. My towel was very useful. I never used the towels in the places we stayed. I preferred to use my own.
  When I got married I brought the towel with me to my wedding. I didn't need it, but it had been to so many other places with me it seemed wrong to leave it behind. I took it with me on my honeymoon and it has come to Door County every year since.
  My towel has been to Spartanburg and Charleston, South Carolina and Hendersonville North Carolina. It's been to Milwaukee, Chicago and Green Bay.
  It has been very useful. It has protected fragile souvenirs. It's protected my hats. It's dried off all kinds of wet items. I've used it as a cat carrier cover and a blanket. I've sat, laid and eaten on it. (Not all at the same time.) I've used it to hide things and as a marker to show me where I've hidden something.
  I chuckle to myself when I think about how disdainful I was of the towel when I first got  it. You just never know sometimes. Something that looks like it might have limited usefulness turns out to be more than you would think. It teaches you a lesson. The Hitchhiker's Guide was right. A towel is a useful thing and you should always know where yours is.....