I will be transporting a couple of my grandchildren to the Fulda Pool for swimming lessons this week. They are excited to go, and I am glad I can help them learn this skill better so they will be safer in the water. Thank you to all who are involved with teaching the lessons, taking care of the upkeep of the pool, and just working hard so we can have this advantage right in our own hometown.
As I was reading some of our mail that arrived this week, we got a newsletter from Focus on the Family. The editor of this monthly paper that comes to our house told about his experiences as a child. He has shared many stories about being raised in a home with an abusive father. This time his dad told him that it was time for him to learn how to swim. He proceeded to the deep end of the pool and threw him in. He remembers the feeling of several feet of water rolling over him, and trying to get his breath. When it seemed like he would not survive, his older brother jumped in to save him. A scary experience for sure, and one that he has not forgotten. Fear can be a teacher, but never good when someone purposely puts us in that situation. Down right cruel, for sure.
It made me recall my own first swimming lessons which took place in Lake Okabena in Worthington when I was about five years old. There were several of us beginners in the group, and we were excited, but a little scared too. I remember my friend and I having long braids, and when we did not want to put our heads under the water, our teacher grabbed onto our braids and held our heads under. He was a tall man, and to us as little girls, he seemed to loom over us. It was frightening to both of us, and as we went home for the day we shared our terrifying experience with our parents.
At first they thought we had just made it up, and it hadn’t really happened just that way. But when our dads talked to each other, and realized we had both told the same report, they quickly confronted our teacher. He assured my dad that indeed he had held our heads under the water, because that is how we would learn. I never went to another lesson that year, and I don’t even remember when I returned. I remember jumping into the deep end and also diving in the Sibley, Iowa, swimming pool around my junior high years, but not sure how I gained the confidence.
My dad was a good swimmer, and he often took us to Round Lake to swim after work in the summer evenings. He would come between our legs and throw us up into the air on those hot summer nights. Oh, it was so much fun and felt so good. I suppose I learned enough from those family times to survive for myself in the water. I can do a few strokes and dog paddle, so I could probably save myself. I am careful not to put myself in a situation when I will have to find out!
I was so thankful for the swimming pool coming to Fulda when my own children were students here. All of them had lessons as part of their physical education program, and I remember going to watch them take their final tests and diving off the diving board. They were so excited to have passed, and realizing that now they could actually say they could swim! Our oldest son, Mark, became a lifeguard in college and worked doing that for a couple years at a church camp up north.
As I watch the children in their groups this week, I will be thankful once again for teachers who are patient and skilled at teaching those who need to learn this skill. Special thanks to those of you who spearhead this program for kids to become better at their swimming skills. Who knows, maybe I will become brave enough to enroll some day myself and REALLY learn to swim. Right now I just enjoy being in the water for exercise ( yay, Water Lillies!) and goofing around with the grandkids on these hot summer days.
Enjoy your week ahead. May most of the water stay in the pools for this week, while the flood waters continue to slowly diminish in our area. My heart goes out to all of you who have experienced damage to your homes and property. The farm fields and crops have taken a beating, but when it enters your living or working space, that is much worse. May God bless you as you continue to work to do the clean up that comes after those heavy rains.
lbeerman68@gmail.com
