The YMCA

It was so much fun to pile up with friends after the Sunday morning church service, when We all headed into Boise for an afternoon of swimming! Sundays like that were some of my most favorite! We were swimming at the newly built YMCA, they brought out a pool jungle set blown up and bouncy! For all of us kids standing in the long long line dripping wet and jabbering with each other, it was exciting! I was also very self conscious about any extra skin showing, If I could have worn a full dress while swimming I would have! Being comfortable was far more important to me then looking good. It was obvious to me that no one else had my body type, even as a young healthy teenager I could not see my own beauty, but instead I disliked my squared hips and round shoulders. My arms bugged me the most as they stuck out thick and wide, I was really the only one with these kind of arms I noticed. Swimming has always been one of those things I truly love! Even now when my husband sees a pool he puts his hand up saying before he looks back at me "Hold on, Hold on, let's get check in first!" chuckling at my very predicable excitement! At the YMCA on these fun afternoons, the main challenge was trying to cross that floating island of a blown up jungle and NOT fall into the water below. One try I gave it, I fell. But it was the cheering from all my friends that I loved and how even freshly soaked I would still get high fives and hugs after my constant falling. For when you are as clumsy as me it isn't worth trying to be competitive!  I never gave up! I loved the jungle gym and the hard splash into the water! I loved all my friends and the smell of the chlorine water on my skin. One time I stayed up almost half way and cheered out at everyone at how proud I was and the roar of laughter that followed me as I fell backwards due to my own cheerful excitement at such a record braking time! It was those little things in life that made me so proud and so happy!