Drowning

Growing up, my family had an above ground pool. It was about 4' deep in the "shallow" end and about 6' deep in the "deep" end. I can remember a time when I didn't know how to swim and I would amuse myself by walking the perimeter of the pool, up on the 4" wide railing. When I was about 6, I was walking around while my brothers and their friends played in the water. I got to the point where the pump hose came up over the rail and as I stepped to go over it, I slipped and fell in.

I vividly remember how it felt to hang there in the water, not even trying to swim. My arms were limp but over my head and my hair was swaying with the movement of the water. I saw my brothers' friends bodies and legs, and remembr picking out Brad C - I had a crush on him. It never occurred to me that I was drowning or that I might die.

The next thing I know, I'm flying over the railing and landing in my dad's arms. Someone had spotted me and thrown me out - never did find out who... Anyway, about a week later, my dad drained the pool and we all got in to scrub it clean. Then, as they refilled it with water from the garden hose, I stayed in and learned to swim. I didn't really have any lessons, it was just a matter of letting the rising water teach me what to do. And yes, someone was keeping an eye on me.

After that, I swam like a fish. My dad taught me how to dive (by holding my feet down and tipping me over into the water) and we worked our way up to diving off a high dive that was 5 or 6' above the water. Into a 6" deep pool. I'm not saying we were smart, but it was fun. We would dive almost straight down, then skim along the bottom of the pool to the far side where we would practically bang into the wall as the made our way to the surface. It's amazing we didn't break our necks.