Chapter 25 of the Autobiography... Letter Y, Y.M.C.A.
Chapter
Twenty-Five
YMCA
– Swimming at the Y
When
my brother, sister, and I were all much younger, we spent quite a bit
of time at the YMCA. We would mostly be to swim during open swimming
hours. My mom would always take us there. I remember my mom
couldn’t swim and that was so interesting to me. My brother and I
could swim like fish though, so we had a blast. This is where I
learned to swim so well. I remember, to swim in the deep end or use
the diving board, one needed to swim the length of the Olympic size
pool twice. It always scared me to take the test because half of the
pool was ten feet deep and I was afraid of drowning of course. The
first time I slipped over the edge into the deep water is all it took
for me to learn though. At that point it was just like the old
times, sink or swim. I made sure I swam too. In the beginning it
was mostly awkward splashing, but I got much better at it over time.
My brother and I would go all over inside the YMCA at those times.
Though our passes restricted us to some areas, mostly due to our age,
we still managed to explore the weight lifting gym and the
racquetball courts. At the end of every day that we spent in the
YMCA, all three of us kids were so exhausted that I don’t remember
a single time that any of us managed to stay awake for the whole ride
home. As we got older the crime increased at this location and it
got to be sort of ran down. Between those issues and scheduling
problems we didn’t continue going there. I still miss going there.
I was always so active and had so much fun. Maybe one day I’ll
purchase another membership and return there for my workouts.
