By Deborah Burke Henderson
We four kids sat mesmerized, admiring your strength as you mastered the roiling waves with a crawl, confidently slicing through whitecaps.
The beach was our playpen for countless summers until we were teens and ventured out sailing or crabbing with friends. We ran up the quahog drive to the garage and cranked the three-legged Maytag, squeezing the ocean from our towels.
It wasn’t until we were grown that we discovered the truth about those morning swims. You went out just so far, knowing you could always touch bottom and thrust yourself forward with another compelling push.
We laughed for hours over that.
I love the bittersweet nostalgia of this: Mumsy’s tender deceptions.
Lovely memory of Mumsy who wanted to be a courageous mother.
A beautiful memory! Thank you for sharing your mom with us!
Nice story. Reminds me of my summers on Otis Hill and down the Cape. I wish it was summer now.
Excellent hundred word story that evokes so much about your mom. She was a brave spirit!
A beautiful memory. How much we don’t understand until we are older and those spirited days are long gone.
Miss you Ma!
She had us fooled for years.. An excellent swimmer I yearned to be. Her devoted son.
Precious!