A Day At The Pool, 1955.

The five year old boy was excited about the day. He woke up early with anticipation, gleeful thoughts of what was to come later on. This afternoon, his mother was to take him swimming at the local public pool.

It was a warm, Fall day in Southern California. The Summer had been abnormally hot. The little boy was happy that Summer was finally over and he had gone back to school once again. He was in the first grade, and he enjoyed school. He relished the newly purchased school clothes, the new metal lunch box with Hopalong Cassidy riding his big white horse Topper emblazened on it and the thermos inside. He enjoyed seeing his old kindergarten friends, and meeting some new first grade friends. But today, Saturday, the new lunch box and school clothes would be put aside for a while, it was time to go swimming! Just one problem he thought, "I don't know how to swim yet".

At the age of five, the little boy experienced his first official "worry" in life. It would be the very first time that he felt this thing called anxiety about something in the future, about some thing or event that hadn't yet happened. It was a strange, foreign feeling for a little kid to have. After all, he had no need to worry about anything in his short life to that point. Mom and Dad took care of everything. They watched over him, feeding him and tucking him in at night. They held his hand when crossing the street. They comforted him when he was sad. They made him feel secure. But now, today, he had a worry.

"Mom?", he said while tugging gently at her apron, "You know I don't know how to swim".

His mother reached down and picked up the little boy, cradling him on her hip like all mothers do with their small children. She patiently explained that he needn't worry about that. She told him there was a shallow end to the pool where kids could stand waist deep in the water, and splash around, playing with their friends. "Besides", she said, "I'll be right there on the edge of the pool, watching over you. You'll be fine".

For the time being, the little boy's worry had been put aside. He felt safe and secure once again. His mother packed up all the towels, a beach ball, and a few snacks and sodas in a small cooler. And with a neighbor, the neighbor's two small children, and her own little boy and baby daughter in tow, she drove to the public swimming pool. They were ready for a day of fun in the sun.

The very large public pool was packed with people running and jumping, splashing about, screaming, and swimming. People of all shapes and sizes...kids, adults...fat kids, skinny kids, fat adults...all having a great old time. For the little five year old boy, it was quite an intimidating scene. The noise was almost deafening. But, once again, his mother comforted him, then led their entourage to a spot next to the shallow end of the bustling pool. His mother and neighbor friend lit cigarettes and began to chat. "Get in the pool right over there, at the steps. And stay close to the edge and away from the deep end", his mother ordered with a loving strictness to her voice.

The little boy obeyed his mother's commands and made his way down the three steps and into the water. It was deeper than waist deep like his mom and told him, the water came all the way to his armpits. It was a little disconcerting for the boy at first, but then he started enjoy the pool with the rest of the children in the shallow end. Jumping, and splashing, and squealing...he was having a great time. He started to feel very comfortable and safe in the tepid, chlorine-smelling water of the pool. The little boy was alone in his own special, little world. Everything felt wonderful to him. He let out a little scream in the direction of his mother. "Hi, mom", he yelled, "look at me!" She returned the greeting and waved at him, "Just be careful now". Her smiling face turned back to the neighbor lady sitting next to her, and they continued their conversation and cigarettes.

A moment later, the little boy couldn't feel the bottom of the pool with his feet. The water was up to his chin, and then to his mouth. He had let himself venture toward the deeper end of the pool, down the inclined bottom from the shallow end. The water was at his nose as he struggled to breath in the last gasp of air. The salty tasting pool water rushed into his open mouth just as he managed to let out a gurgling scream. His arms were flailing around for something to grasp onto, but there nothing. He didn't know how to swim! His five year old body just sank lower into the depths of the pool, just a few feet from the edge.

He could hear splashing and deep bubbling sounds underwater. He could hear himself trying to scream again, but his voice didn't seem to come out. More water rushed into his mouth, and, this time, into his lungs. He tried to breath in some air, but there was only water. Just then, he felt his feet touch the bottom of the pool, the surface of the water was now over his hands and arms. No one can see me now, he thought. What is this happening to me? But then he a saw splash in the water just in front of him. And then another splash. And then hands grasping him under his armpits and lifting him to the surface. As soon as his head came out of the water, he belched the liquid out of his lungs, coughing, choking...and breathing in air. It felt good. But all the little boy could do was cry as his mother held him in her arms in that pool. It seemed to him like he was under the water for minutes, or hours. But, it was only seconds before his mother noticed the little blond head bob under the water. She had jumped into the pool right away. She never really took her eyes off her five year old son. She knew he couldn't swim yet. But she was right there, just inches away, to protect him. The little boy sat on the edge of the pool for a while. Within a few minutes, he had stopped crying...and got back in the water.

I'll never forget the taste of that pool water. Not as it went in, but as it came out! Gallons of it.
I did eventually learn how to swim, pretty well I might add. Our family moved a couple years later into a new house, and built a swimming pool. I was seven by that time. And I loved to swim. I still do.

They say that your whole life flashes before you when you are drowning. I suppose there is not much to "flash" yet when you're only five. I don't remember that happening in the pool, on that warm San Fernando Valley day 52 years ago, when mom took me swimming.

You see, there wasn't a thing to worry about after all!