Posted by Ginger Moreno on October 30, 1998 at 23:30:57:
First off let me say that this kind of incident happened to me twice - once when I was 4 and once again when I was 6. First off - the story Titi Yuli likes to call "A Beauty in Parque Munoz Rivera in Puerto Rico". It seems that on a beautiful Sunday morning my Dad decided to take me to Munoz Rivera Park. He evidently called Titi Yuli to help him baby sit (I was four years old and must have been a handful for my Dad to have called Titi Yuli), anyway, I was wearing a beautiful white dress with ruffles and navy trim (so that's where I get my love of navy blue and white!) I was also wearing brand new white shoes. Titi Yuli writes that we all enjoyed the park, the monkeys, the parrots, the turtles and the flowers. However, I truly loved the fountain (that onoy had about 1 foot of water in it). I evidently loved walking around this fountain - and of course, you guessed it - I fell in the murky water. Of course we had to go home and Titi Yuli says that they were concerned about what my mother would say when she saw me. However, I, being the sweet little girl, immediately pointed the finger towards my Dad and screamed "Papi fue", (it was Dad's fault). My Dad evidently just got up and left without a word. What a stinker I was!!
The next time, it was not so great. My Dad took me to the beach and sat down to read his Sunday paper. He explicitly told me not to go down by the water (there wasn't a breakwater at that time.) Well, Miss Adventurous decided that she is going to go to the water's edge and dig up some sand with my bucket and shovel. The waves were strong - and BIG - and - of course- one of them swept me into the current. Not having any swimming lessons I was a sure goner - especially with that big fish right above me (a shark - I found out later.) Suddently two large hands pulled me from the water and all I remember was waking up on the sandy beach with all sorts of people around me and I was coughing up water! Well, what a mess! My Mom was surely going to blow her stack! My Dad cleaned me up as best he could, had me dry out on the beach, however, all I wanted to do was go home. When I dried out enough, he took me home in a taxi (a luxury in those days) and lo and behold - we got home and I did the exact same thing I did when I was 4 - my father was mlortified and he left. My mother was extremely upset and I do believe that my Dad did not take me out for several Sundays after that. How vividly I remember this incident. So vividly, I did not learn how to swim until I was 55!!!! Now I love it! See - it's never too late!