I was tired of always ending up in the beginners group at girl scout camp. The first day of camp, you take a swim test, and that determined what color swim cap you got, and what kind of boat you could learn to navigate during camp. The red cap was for beginners, and they got to use a canoe. The yellow cap was for the intermediate group; they used a rowboat. The blue cap was for the advanced group. They got to use the sailboat.

The highest level I ever reached was the yellow cap. I never could get the hang of swimming without stopping and standing on the bottom of the lake, and forget about going in deep water! It wasn’t going to happen.

The summer of 1979 was a turning point for me. I used to hang out with my neighbors all summer long, and sometimes someone’s parents would take us to the beach. That’s when you’d see a big division between the swimmers (Charlotte and her family), and the non-swimmers (everybody else). That summer, I decided to take my non-swimming situation in my own hands and do something about it. A group of non-swimmers, (3 kids from one family, and my brother and I) decided to walk a couple miles to the city pool for lessons. We’d take $1 and ourselves down there to do something about not knowing how to swim. It killed me to leave Char behind, but that was our divide; she didn’t need this like I did.

to be continued. . .