The Mermaids' Tale

My roommate, Linda, and I are famous for reading but not for getting out to exercise. I stand on my feet all day at Walmart while Linda has bad knees due to severe arthritis and an aneurysm in one of her varicose veins which is extremely painful. Most days the lower part of her leg is blue.

Last month I actually had a physical done after nearly 10 years. The bloodwork was not so good and the Doctor said I was what they call prediabetic. "Eat more fruits and vegetables and exercise when you can," she advised. "Come back in 3 months."

I have been known all my life as having a sweet tooth. During my 20's I lived on M&M's and Pepsi. While I was pregnant I did try to adhere to a better diet. After the girls were born my husband was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, so I know where my new diagnosis can lead if I am not careful.

Linda's medical history is not good, either. She has struggled with her weight for all of her life and the weight is not helping her knees nor her leg which has the aneurysm. She's been told the best exercise for her to do is water exercise.

Since there are no community pools in our city we made the decision to join the YMCA, where we can swim at our leisure or join water aerobics classes, if we choose.

Last Sunday, on St. Patrick's Day, ( we hope this will be good luck) we made our first trip to the Y. We were almost killed on the way there because some idiot driver in front of our car couldn't make up his mind about what lane he wanted to be in. He whipped over in front of me and I had to slam on the brakes. When we arrived we discovered a pool party for some kids was going on. We looked at each other and very nearly walked away, but the attendant stopped us by asking if we needed a locker and we gingerly exchanged keys. A very nice man escorted us to the ladies locker rooms and we prepared ourselves for the torturous walk to the pool. However on the way to the pool we got sidetracked by the whirlpool. yeah! Perfect to help Linda's circulation.

"We are definitely trying that out afterward!" Linda insisted.

We paraded past the parents watching the kids, the lifeguards, and other swimmers to find a free lane. We climbed down the steps into the water and Linda felt immediate relief with her legs. I discovered I am not fit because I can barely swim 20 yards to the middle of the pool. We tossed a ball around for about an hour and swam half laps when we could.

As we were climbing out of the pool one of the life guards said, "hey, don't you work at Walmart?"

"Yes," I replied and he offered to get Linda's cane, which was just inside the door of the whirlpool area.

"Thanks, but we'll be ok," I told him and we slowly made our way to the whirlpool, which we enjoyed for about 20 minutes.

While we were in the whirlpool we were joined by a handsome young man wearing Gamecock swim trunks. I assured him we rooted for South Carolina as long as they weren't playing Clemson.

When we explained that it was our first day and why we had to chosen to join the Y he nodded his approval. "You can do this, Ladies! Don't give up, just keep coming!"

I believe we will.