Sam

I remember the first time I came across Old Elton's. I must have been 15? or maybe 16? 

We were on the yearly pilgrimage to Pembrokeshire as a family - there was a cottage in Nolton Haven we'd visit to get away from the world once a year if we could; it was home away from home.

I appreciate so much about these trips, but something I always come back to were the times my little brother and I would just wander off and explore together; beaches, caves, coastal paths, whatever was there really. Tenby was somewhere we'd visit often too. It was one day we were exploring the streets and alleys when we stumbled across a shop full of clothing that was undeniably wikkidsickandcool on first glance (definitely appealing to our metalhead teenage angst), but something about the words made me feel like whoever was behind them just got it.

At that age, I didn't even know what it was. Some years later I was diagnosed with Cyclothemia, a mental disorder linked to bipolar. I had officially discovered the it that Old Elton's seemed to understand so well.

My feelings are erratic. My thoughts often feel as if they are in the drivers seat. The world and my mind seem to constantly ebb and flow in and out of emotional congruence whilst I find myself at this sentimental epicentre trying to hang on to some crumb of consistency. 

This clothing, these words, they bring me right back to the days my brother and I would only know as far as our eyes could see and our ears could hear. Woven into its fabric is a nostalgic red thread with a sea of contentment at the other end. I'm grateful for that. 

Have a day.