Esther Williams
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.
Dor Undiscovered
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.
Long Legged Grandgirl
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.
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