2nd June 2015
Dear
Cassi,
I’ve
always had a love for pools which is no wonder in the state of California
because of the heat, but did I ever tell you about the pool I had as a kid? It
was one of those above ground jobs with steel sides and an uneven bottom. I
loved that pool. I would come home from school and jump in wearing nothing but
my jockeys and for most of my young life the water went up to my chin making me
prance around.
I
did very little swimming, but I loved the water so that I would just do laps
walking from one end of the pool to the other. There was a time that the pool
was heated, but the heater broke, and then we took it apart. I remember it
being full of dust and old plastic bracelets. The base had been made of loose
red bricks which became toys once unearthed.
I
used to build temples and army bases of those old bricks. A few I crushed back
into dust, but why I couldn’t tell you. I never knew how sick my mother was
until I was nine, and she never had the time to be there for me. I remember my
happiest moments as a child being alone with my thoughts. I was a world onto
myself back then and in a way we all are now.
You
can figure that’s part of my keeping to myself now days, but there is much more
to it than that condition. In the darkness of our lives we should let our mind
grow distinguished and wise but keep our hearts young and able.
Well,
one day I came home to find the side of my pool burst open and the back lawn
teaming with insects floating in the chlorinated water. That was the worst day
of my life at that point, but I didn’t know it yet.
Know
what you have, little sister,
Richard
Leland Neal
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