Tying the Knot

The first knot I learned to tie was a bowline, or perhaps a cleat wrap. Either could lash a rowboat to the dock, one of my "jobs" when our family would head to Lake Winnipesaukee for our annual two-week respite. 

When I was a tween I was obsessed with those white macrame bracelets everyone was wearing. Oh, and those plastic gymp lanyards girls made at camp. Later on, while working as a lifeguard, I would twirl my whistle endlessly from that homemade lanyard. 

But my favorite knot-tying memory came many years later. While working in the dorm, I discovered one of guys next door had finally mustered up the courage to ask another boy to the prom. He was thrilled to have had his "prom-posal" accepted but immediately began to fret about what he might wear.  

We bought him a special tie for the occasion, but he was so taken aback when we gave it to him I initially wondered if we had overstepped. Then he told us he had never owned one and didn't know how to tie it. Could I please do it for him?

Standing behind his right shoulder, I gently looped the tie underneath his collar. He watched in the mirror as I showed him how to tie his first Half-Windsor. 

That same boy turned 29 yesterday. He's never forgotten that moment. 

Nor have I. 

“We learn the rope of life by untying its knots.” – Jean Toomer