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Dear Readers,
“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we
take, but by the things that take our breath away.”
-Anonymous
In April, my grandson, Bryan, became a certified
scuba diver. This is a great accomplishment and I am
extremely proud of him. He also becomes the newest
member of our “family” of scuba divers.
My oldest daughter Amy (Bryan’s mom) and her
husband, Bill are both divers. As a dive instructor
while living in Guam for three years, Amy was the
first child in our family to become certified.
My husband and I were certified many years ago along
with our youngest daughter, Brittany. Brittany went
on to become a Master Diver, attended Sea Camp in
the Florida Keys for several years and eventually
was a counselor at Sea Camp, assisting with the
young divers there.
I love to dive and I love the ocean. But for the
past several years, I have not able to do much
diving because of an injury to my Achilles tendon.
After having surgery on it, I was nervous about
hurting my foot again. When we went on family dive
trips, I would let everyone else go diving while
Bryan and I snorkeled together. We had a great time
but I always missed diving.
When Bryan became certified in April, I knew I
wanted to share the joy of diving with him.
But my diving daughters told me I might be too old
or too out of shape. Brittany’s words were, “Mom,
you are too old for that.” That sounded like a
challenge to me. Too Old? You have to be kidding????
Just a few weeks ago it was my wedding anniversary.
To celebrate, I told Doug I wanted to have a real
adventure. I wanted to do something different, that
no one I know is doing. Something we could tell our
great-grandchildren about.
Together, we planned a scuba diving vacation in
Belize aboard the dive boat SunDancer 2. For 7 days
we would have the opportunity to make up to 5 dives
a day. I decided 16 dives was my goal for the week.
My underlying goal though was to dive enough that I
could catch up with my kids. I can’t let them get
any further ahead of me. And, I am NOT old.
To refresh my skills I took a scuba certification
course in May. The final test for the course was
four dives at Middlebrook Quarry, where the
temperature of the water was 43 degrees. It was
extremely difficult.
Brittany kept on telling me to take it easy and not
try to do too much. There were several times when I
thought she might be right and I had made a mistake.
But I forged on, one dive at a time. When I finished
the last dive, it was like a huge weight had been
lifted from my shoulders. After this, diving in the
beautiful waters off Belize would be a piece of
cake.
And it was! Both Doug and I made 21 dives during our
trip and lived up to our Type A personalities. Doug
became really good at underwater photography,
creating some fabulous pictures. I took an advanced
certification course on buoyancy and improved my
diving tremendously.
The whole trip was incredible. The reefs were
beautiful, the fish plentiful, and the boat
experience fabulous. We were pampered by the crew
all day, eating 5 course dinners and cooked to order
breakfasts. We came back rested and rejuvenated, as
well as proud of our accomplishments.
We are already planning our next family dive trip!
Hmmmmm. . . maybe the Pacific? They say the fish are
fabulous out there. Whatever we do, it will be a
wonderful time, sharing something we all love.
And I have proven to my doubting children, I am not
old. There are few more adventures in this
young-at-heart lady.
I hope your summer was as much of an adventure as
mine was. And that you are refreshed and ready for
back to school time.
But, remember spring break is just around the
corner. It would be a great time for a Caribbean
vacation…. they say the resorts in Bonaire are very
family friendly. Maybe Bryan and I will see you
there. We’ll be the ones in the scuba suits having
the time of our lives. . . together.
‘Til September, Happy Parenting. I hope you can all
keep up with your kids!
Brenda |
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