A difficult question. . .

My old friend Marty Kahn called me this morning to consult on a very important matter. . .what to do with all his old ski equipment and ski clothes that he hasn't used or worn for several years but just can't get himself to throw or give away.  I totally understood his problem.  Both of us have come to the realization that our skiing days are over, but not without a struggle. Mainly, I think, because we're forced to acknowledge that if either of us took a header on the slopes, we'd both have a helluva time getting back up.

Marty called me for my opinion because we have "history"when it comes to skiing.  That's because back umpteen years ago when I turned 50, I decided the ex and I should learn to ski. The ex was a Bronx boy who had never even been on a mountain, but he was game to try.  Although I went to college in snowbound Syracuse, nice Jewish girls didn't do stuff like that in those days, so obviously, I was pretty mature when I decided to suddenly become an athlete.  Marty and his late wife Nancy were our close friends, and if the Spectors were going to learn to ski, I insisted the Kahns followed suit.  And ski we did, all over the world together, on many great occasions.

Today, Marty is a very respected retired judge.  We actually met more than 40 years ago when he served as City Attorney for the City of North Miami and I was the Public Relations Director for that municipality.  Times have changed for our old home town as well.  Today it is the largest Haitian community in the U.S.

I wasn't much of a help in answering Marty's questions on what to do with all his "stuff".  I still have a pair of skis leaning against the side wall of my storage locker downstairs in my condo building, just in case.  I did send a lot of my ski clothes to my surrogate daughter Allison when she was living in Colorado, but I admit to being unable to part with my favorite red velvet ski jacket , that is still hanging in my closet, just in case it ever snows in Miami, or I happen to find myself on top of a mountain in Switzerland.  (  Yeah, that's me in the photo, wearing my favorite, on top of some mountain.)

Hope springs eternal.
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