Friday, February 4, 2022

Flasback Friday: Growing Up in Florida

I came across this photo recently and it really spoke to me, especially given the fact that it was -22 degrees outside yesterday (but at least there wasn't much wind...!) 
 
The picture must have been taken when I was in high school - maybe a junior or a senior - because that's when we put the pool in our backyard. I think that's me holding the board. It was a big foam surfboard my dad had gotten somewhere. My sister is in the middle and some good friends on either end. 

We spent a lot of time in the water. All of my family loved swimming and before we got our own pool we would take almost daily trips down to the community pool at the Bayshore Gardens Community Center a couple miles away. When we were younger, my mom had to make the rule that we would stay at least an hour, otherwise my sister or I would sometimes swim for 20 minutes and be ready to go home! It was a little far to walk (although we did on rare occasion). Once we were old enough we would bike back and forth, and then we could stay for whatever duration we wanted!

By the time I was in high school my parents decided to put our own pool in, which was a dream come true for me (even though the actual installation was kind of a nightmare for my parents and took forever!) Once it was in, it became the center of our social life as kids. We'd often have friends over to swim, pool parties with youth group, and so on.

Glad to have a pool today, but only get to use it a few months out of the year because... Minnesota.

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