Summer memories.

The last 6 summers I have spent lifeguarding. I was a tiny 16 year-old when I first started working. I believe my first day of work my head guard told me to jump in the water if I ever heard gunshots. I never heard any but I witnessed plenty of fights, both physical and verbal. I was often thrown in the middle of fighting to break it up because they knew either two things would happen...the first, no one would hit a tiny white girl and they would leave the pool to fight or second, they would become distracted by a tiny girl even trying to break a fight up and bond over the ridiculousness of it. I can honestly say I think it was by the grace of God that I was ever able to control those situations. Let's face it, I have a soft voice that makes my heart race when I have to scream. Ask anyone who had me as a head guard my 5th summer and they will testify that I had them stand in silence as I built up the courage to yell at the top of my lungs. In a way I think it was more effective because they knew I was upset and had to anxiously anticipate what I was going to say. Or maybe I'm just trying to make myself feel better... Regardless, looking back at my summers as a lifeguard, it was only by the strength of God that I was ever an effective guard.

The reason for all of this reminiscing is a visit I took this past week to visit a few friends at their pools. I may not talk to them frequently throughout the year, but when it comes time for summer, I feel like they are who I should be spending my time with everyday! It has been a lot stranger than I expected to not be guarding and being at the pools made me miss it. Which, if you guard, you'll recognize the irony of that statement. When you're working, you pray for rain every day so you can close the pool. And when a patron comes and complains that you won't let their child go in the deep end even though they are practically drowning in the shallow end, you want to ask them to do your job so you can just sit and enjoy the sun. Or how about having people say you are racist for asking them to pull their shorts up? That is just annoying. Outside of the patrons, the pool, the county rules, etc, there is something neat about being part of a group of 200 some lifeguards. The first few pictures are from lifeguard games which were held each summer. The different pools compete against each other in various events for some fun competition. Then there is a picture of water polo, held on Sunday nights for the pools to compete against each other again. And the last picture is my sweet friend, Coogan. This girl never fails to make me laugh and I've learned a lot from her about crew unity. She's got a special talent of making everyone feel part of a team. And since when I saw her, she already knew what I was up to from reading my blog, I thought I would give a little shout-out to her. (You're great Coogs!) So enjoy a very small peak into my past 6 summers. Just a little different from this one...