Diving Divas

So my mom taught me to dive one summer when we were driving to visit my step-father in rehab - but that's another story. We were driving through the Wisconsin Dells (back in the 70's) and I was fairly old (12 or 13) for not knowing how to dive. My mom was never terribly athletic and she and I didn't spend much time together doing sporty type things. But this particular road trip on this particular day at this particular roadside motel, she was offering her time and attention and I gladly accepted. Looking back, I can only imagine what was going on in her mind as we drove to Hazeldon, MN - the alcoholic rehap capitol of the U.S. and I have nary a clue what was going on in mine...those are my zoned out years of painful puberty and numb coping as my mom and her husband's relationship went from bad to worse.

I remember my bathing suit - a pale blue one piece number. My mom told me to stand at the very edge of the pool, straighten my arms, cover my ears and for god's sake, tuck the chin! As I fell into the water over and over again, I finally got it right and my mom took pleasure in seeing me progress. She took her camera out and snapped several photos of me and later we went out to dinner and we had "taco salads" - something neither one of us had ever heard of and they were delicious (!) and exotic seeming. Weeks later, when my mother got her film delivered, all my diving shots had been condensed into one surreal looking photo - me in every position - a time lapse effect in one picture. I can still see the photo in my mind.

This past week, I taught Sophie to dive - and I've never seen such courage - truly - in her. As I held her at the edge of the pool, I could feel her shaking. I asked her if she was scared and she nodded and said "terrified!" But she never gave up and never stopped practicing. By day 2 she had graduated to the diving board and was doing perfect dives. She even befriended a grown woman who was too scared to dive and convinced her to try. I watched the two of them diving away and slapping each other with high fives. Later in the week, Sophie taught her big sister Emmy (who is 20) to dive and she did it - no sweat. I love how this legacy (handed down from my mom) continues in a blended, crazy-quilt lineage.

So 2 days ago, I told Lili she was going to dive off the diving board. She has been swimming like a fish all summer (even learning the butterfly!!) This kid is a natural and she attacked this head on. She did about 5 practice dives off the edge and then went off the board. Flawless. This kid...

Happy Summer...XOXO