In our small town, I’ve discovered a beautiful lake. When summer comes, I try and take my daughters swimming there as much as possible. Today, was one of those lazy, warm days that I look forward to. For me it’s personal, I had a small beautiful lake that I loved as a child. My grandparents lived up the road from our house. They had a home that overlooked a lake and my mom would take us there to swim nearly every day in the summer months. As I look back though it wasn’t so much the lake that I loved, it was my mom. She always swam with us. I was reminded of her as I jumped in the water today.
I’m thirty-five. I don’t look the same as I did ten years ago. I have dimples in my thighs, the start of cellulite, spider veins on my shins and a few stretch marks on my body. I have scars, moles, and areas where I’ve gained extra weight. I feel as if my life is always a balancing act between eating healthy and working out. I stress about it in ways that are vain. I’m constantly looking in the mirror and checking myself out, not always liking what I see.
Today though, I proudly wore my bikini and joined my daughters in the water. My mom never let how she looked in a bathing suit stop her from playing with us. She never sat on the beach, hiding underneath a towel. She wore bathing suits that fit her body, in colors and patterns that fit her personality. She taught us the breast stroke, how to swim underneath the water and to dive. We had splash fights and rowing lessons. We would take our inner tubes out into the middle of the lake and bask in the sun. She always jumped in, regardless of how her body looked. She was proud to be our mom. We thought she was beautiful. We still do!
I looked around today and I saw dozens of other moms. I saw the beautiful faces of all these women, laughing and playing with their children. I was surrounded by memories, all these cherished memories that I know their children will never forget.
Children don’t care how you look in a bathing suit. They aren’t bothered by your weight, your stretch marks, your wrinkles or your scars. When they look back, the only thing they are going to remember is that you jumped in the water with them.
So to all the moms out there, put on that bathing suit, wear it proudly and jump in!
