Life & Times #6

This story actually focuses on our little sister Amanda. She kindly gave me permission to write this one out.  I would not want this story lost to our progeny.  For years she couldn't talk about this incident even though we all thought it was hilarious.  I guess you just don't understand unless you were the one left naked in the middle of the lake.

It was a holiday of some sort and we had gone to swim in a nearby lake with close family friends. I can't remember all the details but Dads and older sibling were not there.  I do remember it was cloudy and not too hot so we had Fox Lake basically to ourselves.    I was 13, our friend Heather was 13 as well and Amanda was 11.  We swam out a ways and played in the water.  There was nobody else around and things got boring real fast, so we came up with a most fabulous idea.

What if we all changed bathing suits in the dark water of the lake and then went into lunch and see who notices?!  We thought we were just hi-larious.  So that's what we did.  We quickly did the ol' switcheroo and swam back to the shore.

Of course our mothers noticed right away and were for some reason not as amused as we were.  3 preteen daughters changing suits out in the open water?   Not funny.

But we were so amused with ourselves. After lunch we swam back out in the water to change back into our original suits.  Both Heather and I made our hand offs without any incident but something happened with Amanda, and just like our mothers forewarned, she missed the toss and in a split second her suit was swept into the dark depths of Lake Fox.  Gone.

We searched and searched but that suit was no where.  Being the wonderful and supportive friend and sister, Heather and I busted up laughing from shock and the hilarity of it all. But poor Amanda, the one left with nothing to put on, soon f.r.e.a.k.e.d.out.  She starting hyperventilating thinking she was going to be stuck out in the lake until the cover of night and then Mom was going to kill her.   We tried to comfort her and calm her down all the while trying to stop laughing ourselves.  For some reason she did not see the tremendous humor we saw in our situation.

A man about 30 yards from us (one of about 5 other people at the lake) noticed how upset she was and asked if everything was ok and started to wade closer to us.  Amanda yelped and dove under the water while we assured him all was well.

Amanda was NOT okay at this point and was sobbing while Heather and I debated who got to go ashore and explain to The Moms what happened.  We had to decide who could keep the straightest face and look the most remorseful when we broke the news. 

Somehow I got picked to go in while Heather stayed to try and soothe my sister.   The moms reacted about how any mom would react and were somewhere stuck between anger, righteous "I told you so" and compassion for the daughter left stranded.  We had to figure out the best way to get Amanda to shore.  Luckily Heather's mom had brought her suit and handed it over so I could swim it out to her.

Amanda was so grateful and was finally calming down until she actually had to get out of the water realizing just how badly this woman's suit did not fit a 11 year old's body.  The long straps hung past her armpits and the crotch swung down at her knees.   We met her as far out as we could without soaking the towel but the sight of her having to wear this large bathing suit sent Heather and I back into fits of laughter.  Amanda was just ticked at this point, traumatized and angry.  She wanted nothing to do with us the rest of the day and just would not see the humor we saw in the whole event.

I remember we all went to a movie that night with Heather and I relating the incident to all the other family members and my sister getting all upset again.  In fact she would not talk about it for years.

I'm re-reading this and realizing how mean I was!   It was just so funny to me that I ignored how traumatized my sister was.  I want to take this opportunity to publicly apologize to my sweet little sister.  If we had to do it all over again...sorry, I probably would still laugh but not quite so raucously.

I love you Amanda! You're a good sport!