Artist Unknown

When I was a teenager one of my friends came from a pretty horrific home.

My parents took my friend in until my friend was placed with a family who was able to more better financially care for  another kid as my parents were pretty stretched financially themselves at the time.

But we were like siblings so of course my family took my friend in, and my Dad helped my friend with their math classes, encouraged my friend to go to college,  stuff like that.

Eventually my friend’s life dramatically improved and I was glad. Nobody should have to live the way my friend did.

A few Summers later I asked my friend if they could teach me to swim. My friend was into sailing and water sports with her new family and my friend was always going to the pool after school.

Besides she had taught a few of our other mutual friends to swim so I thought she was the perfect go to person.

Growing up, my parents had balked at paying for  swimming lessons when I was a kid and when I was a teenager and tried to sign up for classes until someone in my family pointed out I was going to look pretty ridiculous in a swim suit  and that I was ‘so fat ‘ I’d probably just sink, so of course I chickened out.

So my friend says to me- ” Well. All you have to do is jump in. That’s how everyone else learns. They just jump in or drown Hahahaha. ”

Of course that is not how my friend learned. In the past my Friend took swimming lessons with most of the other neighborhood kids.

I wonder what would have happened on that night my friend was in dire straights and needed to leave their home if I had said, ” You should tough it out and stay in your house. That’s what other people do. They tough it out or they drown. HAHAHA.”

To this day I’m sort of wishing I had said that.