Six years of on-slopes service

The time has come to replace my ski jacket.

After six years, I have finally outgrown the one article of clothing I have kept - and still wear - the longest. I tried it on tonight in preparation for next week's ski trip, and, to my dismay, I discovered it was time for a change. My black and blue, zip-out liner, hooded, six-pocket Columbia ski jacket no longer fit.

Knowing I would have to replace this old friend, I walked through a picture-lined hallway in my parents' house. I looked at each of the pictures from recent years' family ski trips.

December 2003:
Beaver Creak
I was wearing the jacket.

December 2002:
Park City Mountain Resort
I was wearing the jacket.

December 2001:
Beaver Creak
I was wearing the jacket.

December 2000:
Deer Valley
I was wearing the jacket.

December 1999:
Deer Valley
I was wearing the jacket for the first time.

The weird thing was, looking back to those pictures, I saw the jackets my brother and sister were wearing: the hand-me-down jackets I wore before. Seeing my sister in my old red jacket prompted my search for the picture of me in that jacket.

Then I found it.

December 1996:
Deer Valley
I was wearing my red ski jacket - my current jacket's predecessor.
My brother was wearing my previous ski jacket - black with patches of red, blue and green.
My sister - who was seven in that picture - was wearing my first ski jacket, a black jacket with neon-bright yellow, green and pink.

That took me back. As the oldest child in my family, I never receive hand-me-downs; I break them in. Still I wonder if my brother and sister know how long some of their old jackets - my old jackets - have been in the family. As this black and blue jacket is now sent down the line, I look forward to years with this new jacket until it encounters the same inescapable fate of its predecessors.