The other is about a year later. I’ve escaped the grownups and head toward the
lake. When I try to step off the pier
onto a rowboat, the boat of course moves and I fall into the lake. Uncle Bob scooped me up so I wasn’t underwater
for long. Surprise, shock, fear, and confusion
engulf me as he holds me as he always did in a one-armed embrace with me facing
away. In today’s language I would be
saying, “What the…?”
Both happenings – the reality, my changing perceptions and
interpretations – are part of the foundation of my childhood and who I am
today. Those few seconds in the lake
made it difficult for me to pass junior lifesaving as I have an aversion to
swimming underwater, although I managed, and a problem with breath control challenged
me as a singer. I overcame the water
part somewhat and have snorkeled along the coral reef in Mexico. The breath control issue, not so much.
Both images – the freedom and the fear, the uncertainty and
the love – pop up in the periphery of my brain and give me insight to a current
situation and my reaction to it. For
whatever reason they were pivotal moments that have helped me maneuver the road
of my life. Only now do I realize that
it was a blessing to retain the two experiences in my memory and that they
represent a balance of good and bad.
Whatever your defining moments were, whether a sibling scared
you with a spider or a favorite aunt treated you like royalty, I hope that one
of them makes you smile and brings you warmth in the cold and dark place where
the monster under the bed still occasionally resides.
Marilyn
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