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Meryl Soto-Schwartz's avatar

“Ambush” is exactly the word.

Your story brings an experience of my own roaring back to mind. Briefly, I was considered late—at five or possibly four—to be unable to float in a pool. So at summer day camp one day, after my group had been in the pool and put our regular clothes back on, a guy I remember as huge came to the place where my group had changed, told me I had to put my wet bathing suit back on, and literally threw me into the deep end of the pool. Obviously, I lived, but I was terrified and so upset. The huge guy said my mother had wanted him to do it. That was entirely in character for her, as was her denial when the bus dropped me back home.

Not long after, when nobody was looking at me, let alone pressuring me, I taught myself to float, but I never did become a very good swimmer, never did develop the smooth crawl my mother had.

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Jan Elisabeth's avatar

So moving, Nan -- I could hardly breathe reading this. Powerful way to highlight how vital it is that people have agency in their own care -- at all ages.

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