Nostalgia

Here is a picture my sister Jenny just sent me. I'm the one that looks like Anna, Kevin is the little blondie and Jenny the babe in arms. Probably Carma and Eric, the older kids, are taking the picture. It was taken at Steven's Lake in Columbia, Missouri, where I grew up. This is where I learned to swim, summer after summer, graduating slowly from the more shallow swimming enclosures to the deeper ones until I could swim all the way to the slimy green dock. I remember well the feel of that black non-skid strip on bare feet, the smell of plastic floatie devices and my dad's china shirt. Whenever I hear the words "maternal instinct" I remember the time Jenny fell off the dock into the lake (she was about 2) and my mom jumped in after her and ruined her watch. There was a wonderful tall swing set and huge green lawns. We would have summer birthday parties here wtih watermelon and cake and lemonade from the old cooler and not go home until dark.