BRAVERY IN WATER

BACK AGAINST THE COMING WAVE
BRACES FOR IMPACT

Remember when you were younger, and you'd go to the beach with really high waves. Just short of the big waves that would make the life guards shoo you out of the water. And you and your best friend would stand there, maybe knee deep and the waves would come up to your neck or even sometimes over your head. You both would brace yourselves against the coming waves and see who could stand the longest before being knocked over?

Driving along the lakefront the other days, I saw big, gigantic waves, full of foam and excitement, splashing up over the rocks. The scene reminded me of how much fun I had standing against the waves, getting completely drenched, getting pushed around by the lake and that good achy feeling that came later letting me know that I had had a GREAT day.

I also thought about suggesting to my husband that we go to the beach later, after our errands, and enjoy the waves and the water. I really wanted to be that carefree again.

Then I shifted in my seat, and my bum knee twinged. I moved to ease that and felt my back ache just a little. And my foot. And my shoulder. And I remembered I was 10 anymore. So I took my aging body home, picked up my knitting and fell into my evening routine.

But -- that night in the semi-twilight before falling asleep, I swear I heard the waves, felt the spray and saw my best friend fall down just a second before the wave got me too.