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A Story About My Father
I
loved my Daddy. We were never exceptionally close, but I loved him and he loved me. If you still have your Daddy, give him a hug. Let him know that you love him. I’m going to share an “I love my Daddy and he loves me” story with you for Father’s Day.
My Dad never swam. Mom told me that he was very protected as a child and he was a “city boy,” therefore never exposed to ponds, rivers, or lakes, like country kids, so he not only never learned to swim, Mom believed he had a fear of the water.
I, on the other hand loved swimming. My Mom took a car load of kids to the local pool several times a week every summer. Rollins and Pleasant Green were our local public pools and I have very fond memories of summer days and fun at the pools. The memories of the sunburns that often resulted are not so fond! I always dreamed of owning a pool. A dream that stayed with me until adulthood and a husband who could afford to build one. I was living in Atlanta, GA, at the time and so proud of our new pool. It was indeed a dream come true. I swam every single day that weather allowed. My folks lived in Nashville and visited regularly. They watched as the trees came out and the pool went in. They shared my enthusiasm. Mom was a swimmer. We enjoyed that pool so much while Daddy would sit with his feet in the water of the shallow end.
One day, the second year we had the pool, they were coming for a weekend visit. Daddy called all excited—my father was quiet and low-key. I seldom heard excitement from him. “I have a surprise for you!” he said. I couldn’t imagine. They arrived five hours later and the look on his face reminded me of a kid at Christmas. He ran upstairs and came down in his first ever swim suit. It had a matching beach jacket and he looked cool. Mom also was beaming. “I didn’t know if he would wear it or not,” she said. “I guess he is tired of getting his britches legs wet.”
We (kids, me, and Mom) went down and jumped in the cool and inviting water. Dad came strutting out in his new swim attire, made sure I was watching, then went to the ladder at the deep end. “Dad, I shouted, that’s the deep end!” He ignored me. He eased into the water. I was flabbergasted. “Mom!” I yelled. “Stop Daddy, what the heck is he doing?” I realized she was smiling  ear-to-ear. Her look of pride was absolutely glowing. “Hush!” She told me. “Watch your father.” He eased into the water and then swam across the deep end! I was speechless. And then I got the story.
The term “bucket list” didn’t exist back then, but as Mom explained it, getting over his fear of water and learning to swim was something my Dad had always wanted to do. So at 75 years young, when we started building my dream pool, my Dad went to the YMCA and started taking swimming lessons. He swam across and back. Then he swam all the way around the perimeter of the pool. He got out, said more to himself than to us, “I did it!” And then he took a bow. He never knew because Mom and I were all wet, but we were crying tears of joy as we and the kids applauded.
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Copyright © Susie Isaacs and used with permission.
Susie Isaacs is the most published female author on the subject of poker and she has a new novel out White Knight, Black Nights, (destined to be a best seller!) Visit her Web site for full descriptions on all of her books: www.susieisaacsbooks.com.
The above article is the opinion of the author and not necessarily the opinion of Vegas Community Online, its editors/publishers, and/or other Vegas Community Online columnists. VCO respects the right of each author to express their opinion. If you have an opposing viewpoint or would like to send feedback on any article, please send email to feedback@vegascommunityonline.com; state the title of the article and your comments. VCO reserves the right to add any submissions to its feedback page.
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