A story by P Leone from 2018
Her family instilled a love of water which has brought her comfort
My earliest memory of water is peacefully sinking to the bottom of a clear Maine lake, watching bubbles go up in front of my 3-year-old face. I'd fallen off of my inner tube, I know for supposedly just a few seconds. I was learning to enjoy water from the women in my family. They were all champion swimmers in high school.
After being snatched up by my aunt, I was playfully put back in the water. I grew up vacationing at the ocean or on lakes, swimming, fishing, motoring and canoeing. Upon moving to Maine as a young adult, I knew I had to settle near the ocean. The constant shifting of the tides offered a rhythm for living that resonated within me.
I learned to sail, enjoying an exciting new way of experiencing the water. No matter how challenging life was, especially when I had to leave Maine for 10 years, the sea always called me back. Swimming facilitated my recovery from major knee surgery while I was away.
Returning to Maine as a single mother, I found respite from the storms of life by interacting with a piece of the sea, taking the boys to the beach, wading in warm tidal pools, sitting on rocks, playing in the sand, or simply watching the sun and moon rise and set over the ocean.
During a particularly stressful year, I began kayaking. The ability to glide through the water, either sea or fresh, cold or warm, I enjoyed a different perspective of nature has been a wonderful experience for over 15 years. Now I have a lovely river and lake and enjoy many Zen moments early in the morning as beaver feed and deer dart about, while eagles soar overhead. For me water is the music that soothes my soul.
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