I was not ready for what Uncle Jake did to me today. At least I didn’t think I was.
For the past few weeks, Uncle Jake has been taking me to the river every other day. “Swim Day” he calls it. First, I waded in the water. Then, I dunked my head. Then, he taught me to tread water, which is when you just stay in one place and keep your head above water. From there, he taught me to float in the water without moving—which is called the dead-man’s float! After that, he started teaching me how to swim, a basic way of swimming called the crawl stroke. It wasn’t too bad. And I have been getting better and better at doing it. The last few times, I have actually been swimming without touching the bottom at all.
But when I got to the creek today, Uncle Jake said, “Today you are swimming across the creek. The whole thing. And back again.”
Sure, I was feeling all good and comfortable when we drove down. But when he said those words, I nearly had a PANIC ATTACK! Swim all the way across? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
I felt pretty good swimming along the beach side of the river. Especially because I knew if things got out of control, I could just STAND UP. But swimming across, once I got about fifteen feet from the shore, I wouldn’t be able to touch the bottom. I would be helpless, just like I was back in the koi pond when I was a kid!
“I don’t think I’m quite ready for that, Uncle Jake,” I told him.
“You are ready. I know. And if you don’t think you’re ready, you better get ready, because you are doing it. Today.”
“But, Uncle Jake…”
“No ‘buts,’ Marc. I’m telling you: You are ready. You are doing it.”
“I’ll drown!” I said. The words kind of just slipped out. I didn’t really think I would drown.… Okay, maybe I did think that a little bit!
“You’re not going to drown, Marc,” Uncle Jake said, sounding pretty annoyed with me.
“I might,” I told him.
“No. You’re not going to drown. You are going to be perfectly fine. I won’t let you drown, and I will be right next to you. In the SEAL Teams, we never do anything in the water alone, without someone watching us. No one should EVER do anything in the water alone. You need to have someone watch and make sure you are safe. It’s called a ‘swim buddy,’ and I will be yours.”
“You will?” This made me feel better. Of course Uncle Jake wouldn’t let anything happen to me.
“Yes. I will. I will make sure nothing happens to you. You are ready. Now let’s go.”
“Okay.”
We waded out into the water. I was focused. Very focused. I looked at the other side of the river, which was about thirty yards away. I figured it would take me about twenty strokes to get across.
I looked at Uncle Jake. He nodded as if to say, “Go.” I guess I needed a little more than just a head nod, because I just sat there looking at him. Finally, he said, “Well?”
I said back, “‘Well’ what?”
He raised his voice and said, “Well … GO!”
I looked across the river, looked back at him again, took a deep breath, and lunged forward into the depths. Uncle Jake went right along with me, which made me feel VERY safe and very calm. I knew nothing would happen to me while Uncle Jake was right next to me. I did the stroke just the way he had taught me. IT WORKED PERFECTLY.
I focused on the other side, kept concentrating, and felt the comfort of having Uncle Jake right next to me. The bank on the other side got closer and closer. I started to feel for the bottom with my toes on each stroke. Finally, about five feet from the bank, my toes touched the bottom, and I pushed myself to the bank. I MADE IT! I MADE IT!
I looked over at Uncle Jake and smiled. He flashed a big smile back at me. “I MADE IT!” I yelled joyously. “I MADE IT! I MADE IT! I MADE IT! YEEEESSS! AAHHWOOOOOOHOOOO!!!!!!”
Just as I finished my final triumphant yell, Uncle Jake disappeared underwater. I didn’t know what he was doing, but he was down there for a while. When he finally came up, he was all the way on the other side of the river. I WAS ALL ALONE.
“What are you doing, Uncle Jake?” I called in a loud voice.
“You’re fine!” he shouted. “Just swim on back to me.”
“What??!!” I yelled. This was not cool. AT ALL. I had made it over, but I definitely didn’t think I would be able to make it back! Not by myself.
“I said you would be fine—and you are. Now just swim back over here to me.”
I was torn between looking like a WIMP and possibly drowning. I decided to go with looking like a WIMP!
“Actually, Uncle Jake, I would be A LOT more comfortable if you could swim over here so you can swim back with me. PLEASE!” I hoped his understanding of how scared I was would shine through! But it didn’t.
“Nope. I’m not coming over. You made it there. You can make it back. Trust me.”
Wait! Isn’t Trust me something that people say when they aren’t telling you the truth?? And besides, he had already told me he was going to stay close to me. How could I trust him!!! Finally, I just said, “Well, I don’t think this is a very good idea. Maybe you could just please come over here and—”
Uncle Jake cut me off. “This is a VERY good idea. You know how to swim. You made it there. You can make it back. Now on the count of three, GO. One. Two. Three. GO!”
For some reason, which I may never understand, when he got to three and said, “Go,” I made an instant decision. I pushed off the bank and started to swim. I felt scared and alone at first, but I just focused on the other side and kept swimming. Each stroke brought me closer and closer to Uncle Jake and the sandy little beach on the other side. Then, just when I really felt comfortable with it, I felt my foot touch the bottom. I. HAD. MADE. IT. YEESSSSSSSSS!
Uncle Jake smiled again and said, “Okay, you can hoot now.…”
With that, I let out the biggest I had ever yelled in my life. I looked at Uncle Jake and said, “I’m like a fish in the water!” I waited for him to yell.
“Well, Fish in the Water,” he said, “just remember, you still owe me a jump off that bridge.”
I sat there in silence. But the message was clear: I still have a lot to prove. And as I looked up to the top of the bridge, I knew I wasn’t quite ready for that yet.