Lying on the water at the shore

I'm pretty sure it was on this trip that we went to New Jersey - or Connecticut? - and visited Aunt Jeannette, Uncle Al and our four cousins Doug, Paul, Joanne and Richie. We didn't get to see them as often as we did our Lynden cousins.

I remember they had a little sign up saying something like "Welcome, Uncle Lou and Auntie Fran, Danny, Mavis, Joel, Jan". Pretty good rhyme.

I also remember the "shore" was where I learned how to swim. When they went to the ocean, they called it the "shore". I had taken swimming lessons in Alaska but never learned to swim. Basically, I didn't want to put my face in the water and I didn't trust that the water would hold me up.

At the shore there were all these little, tiny kids swimming around and here I was a big 11 year old still too scared to swim. I decided I just had to do it. So I went to a spot where the water was up to my neck and stood there psyching myself out to take the plunge. I figured even if the water didn't hold me up, I'd be okay since it was not over my head. I held my breath and kind of jumped a little bit and let myself lie down on the water. And it worked! I had learned the swimming motions and I was able to propel myself with my arms and legs. I felt pretty good about that. It was good timing, too, since we did a lot of swimming in Florida.