Pearle’s Perspective #07: LL Bean
Dear Friends,
I pulled out my old L.L. Bean Field Coat the other day for a hike. I don’t know what inspired the decision. I haven’t worn it in 30+ years. It spoke to me from the back of my closet, like an old friend aching to be acknowledged.
An example of durability and timeless style, this coat has been produced by L.L. Bean for 101 years. Once I put her on it was as if no time had passed. The corduroy collar, once an olive green, has faded to a muted moss; the cuffs are frayed, the wool lining intact, the buttons still sewn tight. It was as strong as the day in 1984 when I put it on for the first time.
In college, I never needed a purse. The coat’s pockets held everything I might need. I remember being able to put a can of beer in each pocket as I trekked across campus to a frat party. I wore that coat to the sticky wine cooler coated floors of Peggy’s bar far more often than I did to my Economics class.
After graduation I traveled through Europe, living out of a backpack for a year. This coat took me from the banks of the Seine…
…to the fall of communism in East Germany in 1989.
I carried pieces of the Berlin Wall in my Field Coat pockets.
Eventually my travels eventually took me to a kibbutz in the Golan Heights. Much to my parents' dismay I had the time of my life, working hard and finding many cute Israeli and fellow volunteer boys to date. I stayed nearly a year until scud missiles landed in Kiryat Shmona a few kilometers away. I bought a ticket home, threw all the clothes I wore during my travels away, but the Field Coat remained and landed safely in the United States, waiting for the next adventure.
Through my 20’s, 30, 40 and 50 I could never permanently put this coat on the donation pile. It made it there a couple times but every time I retrieved it and put it back, safe in my closet. Last week when I finally pulled it on again, the memories came rushing back: youth, exploration, growth, and resilience.
Through my 20’s, 30, 40 and 50 I could never permanently put this coat on the donation pile. It made it there a couple times but every time I retrieved it and put it back, safe in my closet. Last week when I finally pulled it on again, the memories came rushing back: youth, exploration, growth, and resilience.
I now realize I wore my Field Coat during times of great personal growth. So it is not surprising that I put it back into rotation at this very moment in my life. The past 20 years have been devoted to creating a home for me and my family. Making them a priority felt important. This moment in my life seems to be a new awakening for me. I feel the freedom and reclaiming a part of myself that was dormant for a while. Feeling as if I could do anything and everything I wanted to. I feel the excitement of what is to come, dreaming of my next chapter.
Like my coat I put myself back into rotation again. I flipped the collar, rolled up the sleeves and felt the strength and resilience of that coat and myself. A perfect fit.
Xoxo
P&P