I used to think I looked like Esther Williams. In case you are still young, Esther was a movie star who was a swimmer.
Many summers ago I used to “go swimming” with girlfriends, and we would pretend to be Esther Williams and her team of synchronized swimmers. First we would hang onto the side of the pool to giggle and talk and watch boys. Then we would do graceful water ballet moves like Esther Williams and her team. Stand on our hands. Point our toes. Do deep knee bends and summersaults, all underwater and in what we thought was perfect synchronization.
But the real point of this memory walking/swimming is not the pointed toes or even the girlfriends and our games, but how once, long ago, my own personal body felt long, lithe, infinitely alluring, and certainly indestructible.
I thought I had long, perfect legs, a tummy I could “hold in” to become concave, a lovely sideways silhouette. Yes, I could be Esther. I was just undiscovered!
Fast Forward Many (Many) Years Later:
2014 – Still Undiscovered
My youngest grandgirl was here visiting this weekend. We spent an afternoon at the pool floating on noodles and yakking just like I used to do with my girlfriends. Macky is truly beautiful with long, long perfect legs, and that concave tummy and sideways silhouette.
Sometimes (under intense scrutiny) I can see the old me, but now she’s only in the hands. They look acceptable with no glaring “freckles” and only cursory withering. The legs are still slim but no longer long. Did they shrink? How do legs shrink? A sideways look at the tummy reveals a convex silhouette! Holding it all in, it’s only an inch or two less convex. Well I would go over big if this were the 16th Century. Have you seen all those Renaissance paintings of abundantly rounded ladies in seductive poses?
And there’s MackyMae, my youngest grandgirl. We never got to doing Esther Williams water ballet moves, but we did the giggling at the pool and she not only brought the joy of youth with her, but she brought back memories of my halcyon/delusional days of youth.
Nicely written. And still, somehow, we remain young in our heads wondering how in the world it could have just flown by so quickly.
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And I’m still surprised at that stranger in the mirror! You are a kind man Mike. I can tell.
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Oh yes, my best friend/neighbor and I used to try to do that synchronized swimming thing too….only we looked funny since she had these long, long legs attached to her almost 6′ tall body and I had these short ones on my 5’2″ one. We must have been a sight! Now, I don’t even want to be SEEN in a swimsuit! Unless of course, we do return to the 16th century and our body types are all the rage. 😉
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I enjoyed this post. I feel the same with my 21 year old niece.
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You know that stunned look on people’s face’s in wheel chairs in nursing homes? All my life I have wondered why they looked so stunned. Know as I get older I know. They are thinking when on earth did this happen to me? I was never OLD!
I still get shocked at increasing evidence of aging. Afterall, I am not OLD!
😉 😉
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What a beautiful teenager you were. I did notice the very modest swimsuit we used to wear. Except that it was strapless (somewhat scandalous) it had full leg coverage. 🙂 Time spent with grandkids is precious. That goes so fast too.
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I love this post, Dor. What a beauty you were and still are! Definitely Esther Williams material. And as to by-gone standards of beauty? Rubens would have loved me. Dash it, born in the wrong era for supermodel status!!!
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Great post, Dor, it gave me a smile. You sparked the memory of my aunt who used to encourage me from the shore, “Swim like Esther!” I do remember seeing the movies of the synchronized swimming.
I look with longing at the young bodies around me that move with such ease and try not to sigh too loudly. We had our time, but how nice if we could run and play as we once did!
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Well, I never had the long legs…..but I remember the days of “holding in” my tummy……sigh…..
Love this, Dor!
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You have certainly brought back memories! I knew I could never swim like Esther Williams, but I saw all of her movies. How wonderful to be able to spend time with your granddaughter in the pool and remember the days of youth. Thanks for sharing the beautiful young Dor! Where did those days go? Good post!
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Oh how I miss my concave belly!! Oh well, there’s not much I can do about my aging belly, but my mind will stay young and crazy forever :).
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Great post, Dor! Boy, Hollywood sure missed out by not discovering you…great photo!
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Call me delusional if you want, but I see perfection in your youth. Esther had nothing on you, (Why are we so hard on ourselves?)
I’d say Miss Macky had a beautiful gene pool to take a dip in.
Beautiful memories from the past AND today. So glad you shared.
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You crack me up Cindy! I think we all looked funny doing our ballet swimming – and I feel the same as you do about swimsuits and wishing for times when a “little meat on the bones” was considered attractive! 🙂
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Thanks for stopping by my blog Debbie and I’m glad you enjoyed! 🙂
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We are members of the Forever Young Club Cindy! That’s why I’m so shocked at the reflection in my bathroom mirror.
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Actually I did not think I was beautiful Kate – just slim enough to try to emulate Esther Williams. Now my grandgirl thinks SHE is fat. Hard to believe.
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Nope – no raving beauty – just unusually flattering photos. I do remember feeling a bit more lithe however. I think I could even do a backbend! 🙂 How about you?
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There is something quite unfair about the ravages of age Eliza. Surely we can find the “Fountain of Youth” somewhere other than in our memories.
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You are still long and lean in all your photos Dianna and I am so envious. 🙂
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I love finding friends like you coastalcrone, who went to the same movies I loved so long ago… and sharing the memories of the way we were way back when – or as they say now, “Back in the day.”
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Your mind is definitely young and crazy my friend! And you are well loved for it.
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You are so sweet Jill. But, I think I only looked like that for about a week. I really did feel extraordinarily slim and sleek in the swimming pool though, even when I wasn’t particularly slim or sleek. They say water makes you feel lighter. 🙂 LOL!
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What a kind comment Ellen. It was one of those “keepers” that make me feel good when I come across it today.
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I read somewhere that the brain doesn’t know the difference between real and imagined thought. So that’s why nostalgia is so pleasurable! 🙂 Reminisce away! (Just don’t move.) 😉
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Awww, thanks :).
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LOL! I’m good at that Eliza – not moving. 🙂
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Nice combination of beautiful memories and humor. Love the pictures! 🙂
Now I miss my grandmother.
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Based on that photo, Dor, your illusions were NOT delusional. Beautiful. I’m so glad that you had such a great time with your grand, MackyMae. That’s the kind of get together that is the source of the real fountain of youth. Thank you for sharing. 😉
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What a beauty I see in that photo. Thank you for sharing. I do remember Esther and I admired Fernando Lamas for not being threatened by her athleticism.
I love it that we swim and play in the pool with our children and grandchildren. My mother always takes a dip when we go to the lake where we chit chat, kibitz and float as high as we can on our backs to see our “flat” tummies even with the surface of the water.
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We tend to save the best pictures for later viewing don’t we? I think I was only about 14 in that one. Youth does shine. But thank you so much Judy. You are a lovely lady. 🙂
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I can just picture you and your Mom at the lake “kibitzing.” Thanks Georgette for your happy comment. 🙂
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Man it just creeps up doesn’t it? Love how carefully you take us down the aging memory lane Dorann – ah to be in my teens and twenty’s again. Nah – I don’t mind inching up on 60, except as you said my legs are shrinking, body’s aching in places I never thought about before, and my eyes (an entirely different story) ~
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Yup Mary – “Getting old is not for sissies.” 🙂 But nowadays getting onto 60 is considered Middle Age, so ignore all those little signs. They will come and go. 🙂 Now me – I am definitely past that and any new sign is an announcement of the upcoming finale!
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Oh to have those youthful shapes again. Oy.
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LOL! If only wishing would make it true. 🙂
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Sadly, work only approximates. But we always have photoshop!
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Hanging out with grandkids keeps one young. 🙂
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🙂 Or worn out. 🙂
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That too!
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