When I was a young boy growing up in Plymouth, dreams of doing it for the first time was intriguing. The problem was getting up the courage to try it.
They say anticipation makes the heart grow fonder. Well I had thought about doing it for months. The summer of 1953 was going to be indelibly etched into my memory.
My biggest fear was failure. What if my expectations weren’t met? It could be devestating.
I would ride out to Crystal Lake several times per week to attend swimming lessons at the Crystal Isle Inn. The yellow school bus was always filled. I do remember Jenna Lujack, a bronzed blond classmate, was always on the bus and boys swarmed around her likes bees to honey. Of course the bright red, or yellow, or polka dot bikini’s didn’t hurt. It was on one of the rides that I decided today would be the day to do it.
The first thing I needed to do was skip out of formal swimming lessons. Besides, there was no way I could do it for the first time during lessons.
My goal was to get to deep water and the cement raft with the diving board and high tower. That seemed to be where all the fun was. The girls were always screaming. Some people spent the whole afternoon getting a sun tan on the raft. Yes sir, the raft was where all the action was.
So after sneaking out of the dressing rooms, it was pretty easy to avoid all the swimming classes and I made my way towards deep water on my way to the raft. The problem was, I couldn’t swim and I reached a point where my feet were just touching bottom. The raft was still 20 yards away.
Thats right Grasshoppers, my goal was for the first time, swim out to the raft where all the “big boys and girls” had all the fun. It meant taking a risk without supervision and swimming the magic 20 yards. My buddy Charlie Gertz had done it the day before and of course he said “anybody can do it”. In hindsight, the risk was small because I could swim on top of water or under water long distances but I always had the safe feeling of being able to put my feet down if I got tired.
So when no one was watching, I pushed off towards the raft in a slow crawl and what do you know, I suddently was at the raft and climbing up on top. That wasn’t so bad. In fact just to prove it, I dove into the water headed back to shore and repeatedly returned to the raft. I had done it for the first time. You never forget your first time.
By the end of the afternoon, I was jumping off the tower and playfully swimming back to the raft. It was easy and my confidence soared. My summers would never be the same. No more boring swimming lessons. Just the raft with it’s social life baby!
It is interesting that with some of my childhood history invested in Crystal Lake that we bought a several cottages on Crystal in later years. I will say that I knew the lake and maybe some of the early experiences influenced our decision.
So you see Grasshoppers, there are many firsts in life and some seem scary. Each time you conquer the fear, you grow a little. There is always a new challenge. There is usually a satisfying reward. So if you feel yourself becoming afraid of something, many times if you push through the fear you’ll enjoy the rush! Go for it.
A word of caution. Don’t swim alone. It is stupid! What was I thinking?
Love,
Dad