When you grow up in a big family with limited funds, large group sports are usually the best use of time and money. Being one of the younger crew, I was lucky because I also got to play in some individual sports offered through school. The older crew probably only participated in swimming and diving. It was a universal event in the summer around our house. Our summer days revolved around practices and meets. Although I didn’t like getting up for morning practice, it lent a certain organization to the unstructured summer days. I simply can’t look back on the summers of my youth without including the Meadows Pool, and swim team.
On those chilly summer mornings, we would walk to the pool barefoot for practice. By the end of June, our feet were leather. We had a crew that we would meet up with in the girls locker room. It was Debbie, Donna, Wendy, Sarah, Catherine, and me. Sometimes there were others. We would sit on the floor of the locker room (unconcerned about the gross factor) around a reddish towel and pretend we were sitting around a bonfire. The coaches would be yelling that practice started, while we would sit in apparent apathy. The pretend fire and companionship was warmer than the chilly water. We made nicknames for ourselves based around popular jeans: Debbie O’Valente, Wendy Wrangler, Sarah Sassoon, Catherine Klein, Joanne Jordache. I can’t remember Donna’s name. Donna usually felt bad for the coaches before the rest of us, and would guilt us into the pool. Eventually, we’d all give up and get in the water to swim, but we always had our morning fire first. I’m sure the coaches do not look back on that memory as fondly as I do.
When I was young, our family took vacation in June, probably to save money. When we returned, everyone would talk about how they had to swim our events. The team saw a significant percentage decrease in population during that week or two that we were gone. Eventually, we changed the epic Sea Isle City, New Jersey vacation permanently to August, which was better all around. We didn’t miss swimming, and we got to look forward to vacation all summer, instead of just dreading the return to school.
After home meets, many of the families would go out to McDonalds to grab a bite. There was no way my folks were going to shell out all that money for junk food after a meet, so we rarely went. Instead, our crew would gather around the massive kitchen table, make bologna sandwiches, and rehash the meet. I always thought I wanted to go to McDonalds, but looking back, those post-meet moments at home were pretty special. The few times I went to McDonalds (I had to find a ride and have money), I really just wanted a bologna sandwich and the brutal companionship of my brothers and Catherine.
There were few things as regular and normal in my young life than the pool and all the things that went along with the pool. I was fortunate that I got to watch my own kids grow up at the Meadows Pool. It was some sort of magical place that provided structure, exercise, entertainment, friendship, and employment.
Have a great week everyone! Let’s remember that the boring moments are sometimes the ones that bring the most joy later. It’s easy to forget.
