My mother was terrified of water: terrified. She could sit on the edge of a pool almost shaking with fear.  And yet, she sat on the edge of the pool. Mom’s almost irrational fear, of even the shallow end, came to me as a four year old through mandatory swim lessons.  After ending one swim lesson, freestyling my way down the entire lap lane, Bridgette, our gangly and good natured aquatics director, asked me to join the swim team.  Later that summer I won my first ribbon. Mom took swim lessons in her fifties so that she could don a life jacket and swim around the houseboat. I treaded water beside her, holding an extra throw cushion.   From mom’s deep fear of water, she gave us a lifelong love of pools, lakes, rivers, swimming, diving boards, cannonballs and waterskiing. She did not allow her fears to keep us from diving in. Thanks Mom!

My mom is on the right, my grandmother Clackie Sims, my aunt Margrette, my aunt Clara (far left)