The Last Bathing Cap

"Do you actually have a bathing cap that will fit comfortably on your head with all that hair of yours?"

"Yes," I replied to the woman standing flabby and nude in the locker room. "It took years, but I've finally found a good cap. You can buy them at Tojek's on Oakland."

I thought of all the women I know who use that cap, almost every woman swimming in the Shorewood Pool. It would be a nuisance if Ocean Products stopped making them.

The caps sell well. Why would they ever stop production? Because they will. Because everything comes to an end eventually. Whether they make the caps for five yars or fifty, I know that someday they'll make their last cap.

Whether I swim for five years or fifty, someday I'll take my last swim.

Whether I live for fifty years or eighty, someday I'll take my last breath.

That's why birthdays don't bother me. I know I can't stop time, I can only keep up with it. Fifty years after my birth, I'll either be fifty or dead. I think I'd prefer to be fifty.

I'd better buy some more bathing caps.