Do you remember that day on the beach when you put on your yellow vest as the sun was so fierce

I can remember the day clearly as it was when you took our first born to the sea so that he could paddle with you

On your canary yellow vest

Was written

RELAX

 

The design was popular at the time and was a tie in to a popular song which was played often on the radio

It was sung by

Frankie Goes to Hollywood

 

But he was not there that day as I watched you from the advantage of a parasol

 Paddling in the sea wearing just your yellow vest

Although the day was hot the sea was not as calm and you soon returned to the sanctuary of the beach

You handed me your drenched vest to place on a nearby rock

As you constructed a makeshift tent

So that our sleepy children could relax away from the heat of the afternoon

It is often said that the past is another country

But I do not consider that we have ever travelled far from that country

The vest may have worn thin

And the group disbanded

The radio no longer plays their popular song

But we still sit on that beach

And watch the years as they travel by

On summer afternoons such as the one remembered