Lessons of Life

     I don't know how old I was when I first learned to swim, but I do remember the circumstances. My parents had decided to take a trip to Nashville Tennessee. My father played guitar and had a band, he always wanted to go to the Grand Ole Opry so off they went, they dumped my sister in Massachusetts with my aunt and uncle and left me in Maine with my grandmother. I decided I was going to climb one of the big maple trees. Everything was looking good as I made my way to the top of the tree. I climbed up and was nearing the top when I stepped on a branch that broke beneath my foot. Suddenly I was plunging downward, head first, towards the ground. My foot caught on the next to the last branch, if I had fallen and hit the ground I surely would have died, but I didn't, no I was hanging upside down in the tree screaming for help. My uncle who lived next door happened to be driving by, he stopped and pulled me out of the tree. Deciding that my grandmother was incapable of caring for me he took me with him for the week. He had rented a cottage at the lake, that was the week I learned how to swim. My uncle gave me some lessons in swimming. It was pretty much the happiest week of my childhood. I would get up at the crack of dawn and swim most of the day away.
     Swimming for me is a way of relieving stress. I go down to the railroad tracks and swim in the water there. Last year when I knew my Mother was slipping away and would die soon, I went to the railroad tracks alot. Nobody else goes there so I was always alone. I would swim and cry, mourning in my own way.
     Today I went there, burdened in my heart I found some solace and relief swimming by myself. As I swam I thought about how my Mom would take us to the beach as children. The place we went to had a small restaurant. We were too poor to afford to spend money on take out food so my mother would pack us a basket. She would make tuna sandwiches with cucumber cut up in it. To this day I make my tuna sandwich like my Mom did. We always spent the entire day at the beach, making our way home at suppertime. I really miss my Mother. I miss her brushing my hair back from my face, miss being able to talk to her. I miss her, I can't imagine what it would be like for a small child not to have their mother. I was fortunate, I know this, to have the mother I had, it saddens me to think of others not as fortunate. Some will never have what you take for granted  in this life. Appreciate it.