NEW NUMBER ONE!

SWIMMING UNDER WATER!

When I was younger, just a wee little kid wearing a cute little one piece, I learned to swim the usual way. I would clutch for dear life to the side of the pool until finally one day someone taught me to doggy paddle and to trust my body not to sink. Then it was no holds barred! I jumped and dove and flipped. 

And one day, when I was much older and hadn't been swimming in a while, I dove into a pool down to the bottom of the ten foot deep end and sat there on the bottom. It was fun, opening my eyes and blowing bubbles out of my nose. But unbeknownst to me, water had entered into my ear canal and popped my eardrum, rushing deep inside where it could not be simply shaken out. That night I woke to throbbing pain inside my ear, so strong a pain that I could not stop crying and begging to be taken to the hospital.

At the time, I was in North Carolina with a friend and her grandparents staying in their trailer. And for whatever reason, her grandparents just DID NOT LIKE ME. When I complained of pain and asked for some medicine, they thought I was a druggie, but anyway. After an hour of trying to convince them that my ear needed immediate attention, they drove me and my friend to the nearest hospital and I was admitted into the emergency room.

A very pleasant doctor inspected my ear and diagnosed me with a serious ear infection that had swelled up my ear canal and was causing me to go deaf. He gave me ear drops and inserted a small tube to help open up the canal. Then he prescribed me drops and said that I would need to keep the tube in for a few weeks. Thankfully, I wouldn't be permanently deaf in that ear(which was the left one, btw) but I would be for quite some time until the swelling went down and the tube could be removed. Fun, right?

My ear is now in good shape, but the doctor said that I would have to wear an earplug in that ear if I were to go swimming again. Yeah, like that was going to happen anytime soon! And it didn't.

For a long time, I didn't swim. And when I did, I no longer dared to go under water for more than a few seconds. But I discovered when I did go under the water, that I had forgot how to swim under water without plugging my nose! And so it went like this for a long time and my love for water became an unrequited, untouchable love from a distance. And now I'm twenty years old.

Now the present time comes into this story. One day not to long ago, I got sick of it. I was determined to stop being a wimp and get over my fear. With the help of supportive friends, I finally went under water again without my nose being plugged! I swam a few feet and emerged victorious! I did forget to put in an earplug, so my ear was a little waterlogged for a couple days, but it was worth it! I can now show my love for the water! 

One of my dreams is to go see those professional diver/performers who pretend to be mermaids at amusement parks! They are amazing! They can hold their breath for so long! I envy them so much. 

Read me in my next post!