Laughter is Good Medicine

I will share one of my most embarrassing moments. We know laughter is good medicine for our immune system, so I hope each reader will have that benefit.

I've never been one to relish wearing swimsuits in public places. We traveled a great deal as a family while our daughters were younger. And, inevitably, they would begin their chorus of, "Aw, come on, Mom, go swimming with us!"

During one vacation, the girls and my husband had all decided to go swimming late one night in the hotel pool. The pool was located in a fairly deserted area and I went out to sit in the lounge chair to watch all of them swim. Since it was so late that evening, the four of them swam happily in the large pool with no other swimmers.

As I sat and watched the fun as they splashed each other with great laughter, an inner swimmer inside me whispered, "Don't you want to join the fun?" I pondered the thought carefully. After all, it was quite late and surely no one else would be tempted to swim at that hour. So, I casually walked around the pool to the deep end and dove in the pool, clothes and all!

When I emerged from my Olympic-like dive, I could hear my family roaring with laughter. I am not a real spontaneous person, so I knew that my actions would shock them silly. My clothes were saturated and clung to me, threatening to pull me under the water. Nevertheless, I paddled and played with the girls. Then the unthinkable happened.

Somewhere from the shadows, emerged a family of six with (gasp!) swimsuits and towels. I dove under the water and headed for the deep end which was the darkest area. I allowed my head to emerge, trying to keep my shoulders under the water, so the new arrivals wouldn't notice the fully clad woman in the pool. As I began treading water, all I could think was how long this family was going to swim and require me to tread water in the deep end. Ten minutes passed. Twenty minutes passed. I felt my skin shriveling like a prune. The girls could barely contain their laughter as they would swim down to check on me. Thirty minutes passed. By this time my husband was in the lounge chair jokingly asking, "Why don't all of you get out of the pool?" Very fun I thought as I became more and more saturated to the skin.

At last, the family departed and I tiredly swam to the steps and crawled out of the pool. I had learned my lesson once and for all. Swimming pools are for people who wear swimsuits and not for fully dressed fools.