Swimming at the Rec Center

My grandma and her two sisters go swimming at their local rec center 3x a week in order to stay healthy as they age. And every so often, I get the chance to tag along.

It seems that whenever I go, the trio of ladies have become more celebrity-like at their gym - everyone knows who they are, everyone expects them to come. When we enter, good mornings are given and the temperature of the day, locker room and pool water are all discussed. They talk about different quilting projects and their gardens and of course, their health. It hardly ever passes anyone's notice that they have brought a younger version of themselves with them, and so naturally I am introduced, or re-introduced as the case sometimes goes.

We do 12 laps. All in one lane. In a single file line, that often gets bent and twirled around as we each start gabbing. Grandma wears the float-belt, and Barb and Jo both use their noodles. We argue with Lee about whether or not we are on the 5th lap, or the 9th...because it seems that we can never keep track. And we make sure to let 0ther ladies have the lane next to us - because no one wants to get stuck next to Tsunami. Tsunami is an older gentleman that is, for the most part, very fit. He also splashes and causes waves throughout the whole pool as he does his butterfly stroke (or whatever it is) and getting stuck next to him could mean your life.

When we have finished the 12 laps, we make our way over to the shallow end so that Barb and Jo can continue to float on their noodles and Grandma and I do other mini-aerobics in the water. Lee will join us for a second to tell a joke. (This is a fairly new development, though enjoyable...) And then we make our way to either the sauna or the showers and to change.

The thing I like best about my grandma and her sisters is that they are NOT like other older women that come to the gym and are basically exhibitionists. The trio keeps their nakedness to themselves! That isn't to say there aren't other ladies in the locker room that do... So I'm just glad that my relatives are willing to use the dressing rooms.

And then we're done. The four of us walk out meeting Jo's husband Bernell, and my grandma promises they will be back in a day or so...and then we all go home.