Day Four - Tears

This morning the carpet cleaning man came by and made our traffic areas smell sweet and look brand new. I stayed in bed, groaned, and watched movie from my "50 Mystery Movies" dvd set that Bryce (my son) sent me. The flick helped keep my mind off of the screaming neurons.

Dad told me that he wanted to swim with me again today. Cool, at 2:30pm he drove again. When we got to Island Athletic the lot was jammed, we had to get creative with the parking. Inside the facility machines were whirring, bikes were clicking, weights were slamming, and eyes all peering at me (or at least I thought they were).

The dressing room was filled with people in varied stages of arriving or departing. I pushed a few shoes to the side and slumped on a bench. Dressing was less than fun. It's strange, when I was a life guard I never gave changing a thought. What did I care what others thought. Now I am excessively conscious, an interesting turn of perspective.


When I got to the pool, it was also enjoying increased attention from customers. Every lane had people and I was going to have to share. Gee, this should be easy, just keep to the right like always. Then SHE stopped (a swimmer in my lane) and suggested that we each take one side of the lane and go back and forth. I was worried about what happens when a third person arrives but I agreed. As I bobbed up and down, back and forth, SHE passed me 2 or 3 times for each single lap I did. What a humbling experience. I used to be the one lapping everyone else in the lane, now I am the slow poke, what a funny reverse of life. About half way through my swim day, SHE stopped, we exchanged a few words. Nice lady, but SHE was faster than me, boo hoo hoo.

I think back to my youth, words like "Don't worry young manm you will understand what it's like to be old, eventually. When that happens, you will remember our conversation." My face burns red as the truth becomes self evident.

When my hour was up I was ready to get out of the pool. I felt really tired. Which is interesting since today is Monday and I've just had a day off. My legs are shaking as I prepare to leave the water. The trek to the shower was actually scary, I was not sure if I was going to make the trip. I collapsed on the stool in the handicap shower.

When I got to the dressing area, I sat on the bench and quietly sobbed into my towel. I was so tired I didn't know how I was going to dress. If it was not so cold outside I would have gladly stuffed all my clothes in the roll away bag and walked in my birthday suit to the car. After five minutes I finally gained composure, I dressed sloppily and moved to the exit.

Dad was waiting by the key exchange counter. I purchased some grapefruit juice and an energy bar. We walked to the car without saying much and headed to the Shell Shack for a burger. I was unable to eat the energy bar, it had too many nuts and hard things, I am missing too many teeth to be able to chew that much (another story for later).

I am really excited to have finished 4 days of swimming. I have a firm goal to keep splashing. The water has always been a joy for me, it will be again.