I grew my first beard in '72. My first wife met me after it was about two weeks in progress. About three years later, she was at work, (waitressing) and I suddenly decided to shave all but the mustache. Then I went to the restaurant where she worked. She grabbed a menu and showed me to a table. It wasn't until she recognized my shirt that she figured out who I was. She took a good look and told me to "Cover it back up!" which I did.

One daughter, another wife, and another daughter later, I decided to shave the whole thing off. Since neither daughter nor my new wife had ever seen me without a beard, I thought it would be a good idea (especially for the youngest daughter) for them all to gather around as I shaved. I still think it was a good idea.

After less than three months of scraping my face every day, I again grew a beard.

This one I kept until about seven years ago. Sometime shortly after my second divorce, I again shaved.

Until recently, my girlfriend of the past six years had never seen me with a beard. I started it in June and by now it is doing quite well. Funny that in all the years of having one, nobody had ever complained about it. But Kathy says the short hairs, where I trim around my mouth, stab her. I began to think she was going to stop kissing me altogether. Wow! Then it was going to come down to either being kissed or having a beard! Fortunately, Kathy has decided that it doesn't stick her all that much and only if I hold my head just so. So I guess all is well. --Well almost. She is VERY ticklish!

Best of luck, liam_devlin.

Allan C.