Just now posted, but actually occurred on July 3rd.
I believe I was 9 years old when this above ground pool was installed in my grandparents’ backyard. That would be 32 years ago. It has been lovingly maintained and swam in every summer since then. I lived in that pool when I was a child. That is where I became a mermaid, baptised myself 40 million times, and then had my official baptism as a teenager. I also lived in that barn in the background when I was a small child and then again when I had small children. So much history when your family is large and stays put. My grandfather built his home, that barn, every shed, this pool with his bare hands and a can-do attitude. He still doesn’t understand how people have become so lacking in self-sufficiency. We are all idiots in his mind.
I have had chronic pain for over a year now. In the past it would come and go, but this last year has brought nearly constant agony. Unable to do most exercise, I have longed for this pool to be swim-ready for months. They installed a new ladder/step contraption to help the elderly and disabled get in easier. It is right in the way of where I normally dive in and do my turn-arounds between laps. I felt crushed that something was different, that the water canvass of my childhood had been marred. All the while, my grandmother was singing its praises and declaring how much easier she can get in and out, so I held my tongue, fought back my disappointment, and willed myself to accept the change as a positive for others, if not for me.
And, oh, the deliciousness of that first dive-in, that cold relief to my always overheated body, the compress of pressure that soothes my aching joints…I was transported to a more carefree time when my only concern was how long I could hold my breath under water.
My pain is lessened in the water. I can stretch a little more, use my muscles a bit more freely, do some exercise that would otherwise be too excruciating, and relax. To relax with chronic pain is a rare commodity. Sleep is the only other respite and even then is interrupted by unbearable twinges that become part of gruesome nightmares and wake me in agony.
For the brief time that I am in the water, I am saved.
rebekahjmarshall 