July 5, 2011- Courage

At the start of the summer, this little girl barely swam.  She could make her way around a pool, but that’s about it.   A week before summer vacation, after we’d already joined a pool close to our neighborhood (without a swim team), she announced out of the blue she’d like to swim on a team.  

She seemed serious, like she was sharing with us something she’d been thinking of but was afraid to share.   We followed her lead and took her serious.

I spent the next two days finding a pool that had a swim team and trying to finagle with our original choice of a summer pool club any way to get our money already paid (and cashed in) refunded.   It seemed wild that I was following a comment from this little girl and going through so much hassle,  but a good friend encouraged me to keep at it, reminded me that our role as parents is to help our children find what it is that makes their hearts soar, – to expose them to all that we can and to let them take off.  

I got our money back, joined another swim club with a swim team and within 24 hours purchased her a pair of goggles and was driving 25 minutes away with my new member of a swim team.

This picture marks her last swim meet.   She swam in three races.  Two were above her age group.   She wasn’t the best and it was never easy, but she did it and did it well.   

This barely swimmer had the courage to follow a desire in her little heart.   She went to practice every single day without ever a complaint and swam in every meet.   She has learned so much and has grown so much in the last six weeks.  She became stronger, more confident, and perhaps most importantly… she is so very proud of herself.

So many moments this summer… this wonderful one taught us all a lesson.

~K