My Greatest Summer Ever

The weather so far this summer has been beautiful. Everyday was sunshine. The flowers in the garden my Mother planted were growing nicely.

I spend hours watching my Mother tend to her special plants, as she called them.

They were roses, dozens of pink ones, red ones and colors in between red and pink. The earth they grew in was black. As I write this, she too is in the earth.

But, there she is now. It is early Saturday morning and the roses were calling her already. Actually, it was me calling her.

"Hey Mom, where are you going", I'd say.

"To tend to my babies", was her reply.

There is so much to say how some people can be so interested in flowers. I guess it is nurturing something from a seed and making it grow into something beautiful. Like a rose for instance.

My Mother could do that.

She did it with me.

When no else ever could.

I'm a rose, only I have thorns too. I can be wonderful, yet at times, I can be prickly. If you know what I mean.

But this story is neither about roses or mothers, It is about Karl and my self.

I hear a knock on the door, it's early morning and I know it is Karl.

We are going to the pool today. The pool is concrete, the water isn't real clean. When they add chlorine, it is a lot cleaner. Then it would burn your eyes. Some days after swimming, my eyes would be red and bulging outward. I looked a lot like a frog.

"Been swimming under water with your eyes open again", my parents would say.

Of course, I wanted to see where I was going, but would pay a dear price for it.

Life is a lot like swimming under water with your eyes open. You try to see your way through it the best you can, yet no matter what, you always pay the price.

Karl has his swimming suit on already.

We would walk over the long and steep Hamilton street hill. It was the shortest distance, but the uphill part of it was tough.

Crossing the main avenue in town was fun. Depending on the traffic, we would make a mad dash across the street.

The pool store was open today. We bought some salt coated hard pretzels. It is still my favorite today. But really hard on the teeth, smile. We would tuck them in our bathing suits so not one could see them. You weren't allowed to take food into the pool area. But you know how it is, a guy could starve to death.

I would always run over to the diving board first. I loved to dive and was pretty good at it.

Five years later, I would be injured in a diving accident while at a meet at the high school. They rushed me to the hospital where they bandaged up my feet and legs. My feet were torn up real bad and the doctor thought I would need plastic surgery. It turned out that I didn't.

Three more years after that, I would be wounded in Vie Nam. I would almost bleed to death. But that is left to another story.

I started my diving with a forward one and a half in the pike position. This dive gets everyone's attention.

The afternoon wears on.

There is a track meet outside the pool on the grassy area of the park. Karl tells me the local legend Tommy Young will be running.

"Come on Jimmy, your just as fast as Tommy is", Karl says.

"Look Karl, he is at least one year older the me and another head taller", I said.

"Your just scared, that's all" Karl says. My friend is really getting to me now.

"Alright, I'll race him", I jumped up and shouted. Karl had a way of making me do things that I really didn't want to do.

So we walked out on the field. As we walked, we spoke about Tommy "The Legend". He was fast. He beat everyone he ever raced and so on. We knew most of the kids that gathered for the race. Some race I thought to myself. I'm gonna get beat real bad. I mean really bad. Feeling the pain already.

Tommy young was standing, looking calm and cool at the starting line. He is your All American Boy. He has good looks, charm, and he is smart in school. Plus the girls were always standing around him. What a great guy. How could he lose?

At this moment, Karl becomes my instant trainer. He starts rubbing my legs to loosen my muscles up.

Yes, there is even a judge with a starting pistol.

I keep thinking I was set up.

I walked over to Tommy to shake his hand for good luck. He looked down at me and sneered. He got ready to spit, so I backed up a few feet. Lucky for me he turned his head to the side. He then let out a big white hocker on the ground.

At this moment, power surged into my little body. I could feel a tingling sensation running through my veins. It was like my batteries were being quickly recharged in a single instant.

We lined up at the starting line.

A few other boys were running in the race too. They wanted to experience the big challenge that was about to take place. The starting official walked over and stated the race was about to start.

We line up and got into position. I took my time in placing my feet and hands in order to get the fastest start of my life.

On your mark.

Get set.

With a great bang, the pistol shot broke the silence in what seemed like an eternity.

I broke out of the blocks like a rocket from a launching pad.

My arms and legs were pumping hard and fast. I looked straight ahead at the finish line. I ran with all my might. I ran determined to beat that Tommy Young once and for all.

I could see Karl waving his arms and jumping up and down at the finish line. I heard no noise. There was a roaring silence in my head.

I broke the tape at the finish line and rolled onto the ground.

Everyone ran towards me, they picked me up and lifted me onto their shoulders.

I was carried around the pool twice in great triumph.

I had beaten the great Tommy Young.

I looked for him while the crowd was still cheering. He was walking slowly away from the field. He was alone and his head hung down.

In a way I felt sorry for him. I know what he was feeling. I was there myself.

He was the unbeatable champion. He still was a champion in my eyes. He would be for years to come.

Karl and I ran that mile all the way home. We ran through fields and took short cuts through the alley ways. Our feet barely touched the ground.