Going Down for the Third Time

Have you ever almost drowned?

As I mentioned in my last blog, we played a game where the rules were: name five facts about yourself, but one of them must be a lie.

One of my truths was I have almost drowned twice.

Of course, writing that down made the memories float to the surface (no pun intended - well, maybe) of my mind.

The first time I was sitting on a very steep bank of a lake (I think). I was about three or four years old. I was sitting next to my mother, and was yakking about the two boys who were allowed in the water (I wasn't because I had yet to learn to swim, despite lessons).

I remember that because both their  names were Ted, and we were calling them "Little Ted" and "Big Ted", for obvious reasons.

I don't remember losing my balance and tumbling into the water.

I do remember being in the water, going under, and not knowing what to do. And going under again.

I vaguely remember panic around me. Not myself, but others.

Mother jumped in after me, screaming. Mother cannot swim, so that really helped matters a lot.

I think it was Daddy that came to the rescue and yanked me out of the water. I'm not sure who saved Mother from drowning.

Afterwards, Daddy was furious with Mother for jumping in the water.

I think the anger was really fear, but you know how men are. (No offense to any male who may be reading this, of course).

The second time I almost drowned I was at the city pool. There were so many people there nobody noticed I had jumped in the deep end.

I was much closer to drowning this time. I remember feeling fuzzy headed and everything starting to turn dark when I was pulled from the deep end to the shallow end.

A girl who was a few years older than I happened to notice I had disappeared from where she'd last seen me and she couldn't spot me anywhere else, so she went underwater, and there I was, already on the bottom.

Have I mentioned I've never had any fear of the water?

Which is probably why I almost drowned twice. Having no fear makes you foolish.

I finally learned how to swim, but I've never been a great swimmer, and certainly not now.

Maybe the next time that deep water beckons me, I ought to think twice before entering in.

I reckon that stands as pretty good advice for a lot of things, don't you?