re: #395 Cheechako

I’ve had a full beard since the fall of 1971. My sons (43 & 41) have never seen me without a beard. They have told me that when I die they will have me shaved so they would know what I actually looked like.

My wife loved the beard….NO MORE BEARD BURN!!

I had a beard from the age of 23 till maybe 53 or 54. By that time, it was white with only a few nonwhite hairs, and I got tired of the Santa Claus Effect.

The Boys had never seen me without a beard. I told Mrs FBW I was gonna shave, but didn’t tell them. When I stepped into the living room, The Older Boy was stunned into silence. It was like a tectonic shift in his world.

People at work were similarly boggled. Myself, I was just being distracted by feeling air moving over my face.