A Taste of Freedom

When summer began, my friend and I planned on going to the pool weekly like we did in previous summers. We envisioned lounging by the pool, talking and gossiping, swimming, and getting some good tanning in. The plan never quite worked out the way we envisioned.

Today, we finally went to the pool. We lounged by the pool, talked and gossiped, and got some good tanning in. But the best part was swimming. I had to use my walker to get to the edge of the pool (with lots of people staring at me bewilderedly). I lowered myself to the edge of the pool and then I slowly lowered my bottom onto each wide step. Finally, I put my good foot down on the bottom of the pool. I nervously put my “bad” foot down. And it was like a miracle. I was able to stand on my own. WITHOUT the walker. WITHOUT holding on to something or someone. In the pool, I took a step, then another one, then another one. And I almost cried. Because for the first time in 3 weeks, I was FREE. FREE to walk without assistance. FREE to move with little effort. FREE from my disability. I couldn’t believe it. I know it has something to do with floating, buoyancy, whatever, whatever. I don’t care. I was walking and moving my two legs without help. I was also able to float and swim relatively easily. And so today, I did what I planned to do all summer. I lounged. I talked and gossiped. I tanned. I swam. But most of all, for just the briefest moment, I was FREE from my disability.