My Hero

Hi,
today was one of those days. Everything is going along tickety-boo and then, BAM! You get hit between the eyes when you're not paying attention.

No I didn't crash the car or drop an egg on the floor. I watched a young man come into his own.

I have been teaching Alex to swim since last August. He was the most frightened seven year old I have ever met when we first started getting in the pool together. His water phobia was all consuming and as painful for him to live with as it was for me to witness. I had no idea how to get this poor guy into the water, let alone how to get him to swim.

We suffered through a lot of tears and painful clutching of my arm until he finally started to trust me. I wasn't going to let him get hurt, or drown, or even get his face wet until he was really ready. Even though he knew this to be the truth, it was a couple of months until it sunk in (no pun intended). Once we got past the panic attacks and Alex started to believe that he really could master the art of floating there was no holding him back.

Alex spent the last 8 months working harder than anyone I've ever met not only learning to swim but conquering his terror of the water.

Today he swam 8 lengths of the pool in a very respectable front, and then back, crawl. Jumped off the side of the pool into the water with a passion & glee that was unheard of as recently as last month. Beat his continuous flutter kicking record of 1.5 minutes with a whopping 7.5 minutes of kicking at the edge of the pool. Last, but not least he handed me a hand written note that I proudly post here on my blog.

Alex has graduated on to group swim lessons in the next session at the NAC but he will always be my most favorite, and special, student of the pool. When he runs for President of the USA in 2042 be sure to vote for him. No one works harder or smarter than him.

xox
m