Water Spirit

First Child a Daughter 

She brings me the deepest surest Love that any man could imagine. 
It is the kind that will never change nor diminish.
It is unique to a father-daughter relationship and I know it will never leave me.
Though I have struggles none are more difficult or as painful than those she encounters.
Nothing will bring me more abruptly to my knees than to see her hurt, confused, alone.
I thank God for providing me the life lesson of helping to raise up such a beautiful person.

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Growing up in south Florida on the Atlantic coast, water- more specifically salt water- became part of a personality trait for me.  I see these window decals now that say “Salt Life” and I am not sure what the context is for that logo, but I know how it applies to a young toe head boy.  So it was just a natural response that when our first child Maggie was a year old she took her first swimming lessons at Cobb Aquatic Center in Marietta, Georgia.

Now, I am not sure where the H2o genes came from. Her mother’s side was from the Midwest, landlocked southern Illinois; her namesake great grandma Maggie Sewell of coal mining, Harrisburg. This the Maggie Sewell who used to extend hospitality to the bootlegging Charlie Birger gang when they were in the area. The same Charlie Birger that was hanged in the Harrisburg town square. Our Maggie’s grandfather Herschel used to tell of being let out of school just so they could go watch. It was the last public hanging in the state of Illinois.

From the first time in that indoor pool, our Maggie took to the water like it was her natural habitat. Seeing your infant so at ease in a large body of water is comforting. When you see them free in the water, well it must be akin to a mother bird seeing their hatch lings learning how to fly from the nest. I was able to cross child drowning worry off the list.

From this point my oldest posted a litany of water related accomplishments.  I’ll never forget on a cruise to the Bahamas when she went snorkeling for the first time off a Caribbean sand bar. I remember hearing her laughing and talking with the fish. I could hear the conversation through her snorkel! She was also at peace swimming with the stingrays off Grand Cayman.  Her attraction to the water entered a new phase after we took her to see “The Little Mermaid” and she developed a lifelong kinship with Ariel, another redhead.

Then there was the swimming during the summer community leagues with the Smyrna Sharks. Her competitive father got choked up when he saw the look on her face after she touched first for the first time.  There were many ribbons and state meet finals.  The swimming took to year-round practice and meets with the Marietta Stingrays swim club.

When Maggie got into high school she began to hear the call to work with younger kids and so now she has responded to her call. She works as a manager at Swim Revolution in Smyrna/Vinings.

  How much more proud can a father be than to see his oldest daughter passing it on in the Spirit of the Living Water.

Happy Birthday and keep passing it on my beautiful and gifted Maggie. 

Amen, Dad, August 1, 2016