Ater the weekend at the beach resort last month with some of Tawn’s high school friends and their young children, the mothers decided to enroll their children in swimming lessons.  The pool is not far from our neighborhood, so once a week I take a break from my work and ride over to encouage the little ones as they learn to swim.

The two youngest ones, Kiri (with his mother, Tao) and Jaeda (with her mother, Saa), both enjoy the water but Jaeda seems a bit more ready for swim lessons.  Even after a half-dozen of them, Kiri doesn’t seem to enjoy any activity that gets his face wet.

By ten minutes into the half-hour lesson, Kiri’s upper lip is trembling and tears are making the pool salty.  I feel a bit guilty because as I stand on the side of the pool, he will look at me every so often as if to ask, “Why are you just standing there, letting me suffer?”