“Is it cold?”
I look up into the smiling face of a woman wearing a beige coloured swimming cap
I lift my foggy goggles and realise that no, in fact, she wears no cap
She is bald
Cancer
Chemo
Radiation
The words pop into my head and
Suddenly my own rubber cap
Bright purple and wet
Seems like a blessing
I remember the question and reply
Face now wreathed in smiles
“Yes! It is but it’s bracing”
She enters the water on a sucked in breath
I kick off to swim
Thinking “I am so lucky to do this”
In the next lane the woman also churns water
Perhaps thinking
“I am so lucky to do this”
And the lane ropes divide us, fate as well
A million things to die from
And for this reminder
And this God given moment
I am truly grateful
