One of the fondest memories that I have of my dad was the day that he taught me how to swim. I remember as if it were yesterday and it's one of the memories that I will always hold very dear to me.
I was about 5 years old and we were at a family reunion at the Lake of the Ozarks. At the time I was very scared of the water. In fact, I hated it. I had no desire to learn how to swim. I would get my feet wet, but there was absolutely no way that I would ever get the rest of my body in the water.
My Dad was perhaps one of the most patient people that I had ever had known in my entire life. He would work with me as much as humanly possible to get me in the water. This went on for the entire summer. He would try to get me in the water and I would always rebuke him. The finally my Dad had enough.
Again, we had went up to the Lake of the Ozarks. My dad tried to "sweet" talk me into getting in the water. After about the 5oth time of me saying no, my dad just snapped. He picked me up and carried me out into the water and threw me in. All I remember was him saying, "sink or swim." Well instincts kicked in and wouldn't you know it. I was swimming.
That memory has been with me a lot over the past week. Now with him passing I have to "sink or swim" to make my life as right as he did his.
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That is pretty funny! :-) Erik, my son, was terrified of water when he was 5. He also would get his feet into it and that was about it. Then I had a friend of mine teach him that water was not all that bad. He carried him into a swimming pool with Erik hanging on for dear life. After about an hour he finally figured out that it was fun and let go of Andy for a bit. Now Erik swims like a fish and was able to swim 116 laps yesterday in his school’s pool for Swim Against Malaria.
ReplyDeleteMichael, I am really sorry for your loss!
I'm sorry about your dad passing away. It's always a hard thing to deal with. It's good you have memories of him, although it probably wasn't the best way to teach your child how to swim, my father did the same thing. It's nice to hear I wasn't the only one who was taught how to swim by being thrown in the water lol.
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