This summer was special and truly a blessing for me and my daughter Maria Dorothy, for after the death of my son; I took some very bold decisions to come out of my grief, as the painful experience of having lost my son was getting me paralyzed with uncertainty and fear. There is not a single day I do not think of my son, the impact of his absence is more than his presence. I found it very difficult to cope with emptiness and void, I thank God for my family and friends who stood by me in these moments and enabled me to come out and be reconciled to the reality of the situation.
Now left with my daughter, I did not want her to suffer, because of me living in the past. I made deliberate attempts to do things that would help me and my daughter to come out of our grief. While I hunted for summer camps, I felt most of them offered only art and craft and mostly indoor activity. Whereas I was looking for something more energetic and vibrant activity, that would not only beat our stress, but also keep us active and happy.
I recalled my good old days, where I enjoyed swimming, and would be so enthusiastic about learning to swim, I managed to learn but I could not be in touch, for so much has happened in life, career, marriage, mother hood, raising up children, and trying ways to find myself all of this had taken so much of my time in life that I had forgotten, about the days I used to swim and just love being in the water. This summer my daughter was getting bored, having taken up a new assignment, I did not find myself picking and dropping my daughter back from swimming.
While I desired that my daughter learn the skill, and was busy exploring places where I would send her to learn, amidst my schedule I got information right where I worked. The good news was that the swimming pool being open for all, vow! my joy knew no bounds, I quickly enrolled myself and my daughter to learn, I signed as a beginner, for I was not sure whether I would still swim, for it is almost 25 years ago I learnt to swim, so the first two days I practiced like any other beginner, and from day 3 onwards nobody could stop me from swimming!
I was so happy to see myself with my daughter who was quite shocked to see me swimming. It was a great feeling to be in the pool along with my daughter – within two weeks, my daughter was ahead of me not only swimming free style but teaching me backward swimming, and I humbly gave in to learn from her, she was quick to learn and enjoyed, these were precious moment for me and my daughter, wherein we felt connected and bonded, not only that we made friends, and also helped some of them to learn. I am now full of energy, I remain active, grateful and relaxed throughout the day, and at peace with myself.
Be Blessed & Be Happy
