A LEAP OF FAITH… INTO THE POOL

by Mary Dowling

How many times do we fall back on all the clichés we learned throughout our years? Well, one of my favorites is "take a Leap of Faith" without fear! We moved here from New Jersey in 1968 and lived in various areas of Texas. Oak Cliff, Duncanville, Dallas, and then Frisco. Since we lived in so many neighborhoods, we made some wonderful lifelong friends through our communities, church groups, schools, PTAs, and other organizations we joined.

Once we moved to Frisco, I figured that would be our last move! Unfortunately, my husband passed away in 2011, and here I sat in Frisco, surrounded by some outstanding friends of whom I thought I would spend my last years aging alongside me.

As it turned out, I had a medical scare, and my family thought it would be best for me if I moved to McKinney in case I needed some medical attention. Oh boy!!! That was not in the deck of cards I had in my journey's hand. What to do?? If I hadn't moved to be closer to my family and needed them, it would have put a geographical burden on them. Again, what to do?

Imagine at my age then, 76 yrs old, I would be starting all over again. After mulling over the pros and cons, I succumbed to the inevitable: move to McKinney and re-invent myself. Deep breathing became my daily exercise. I TOOK THE LEAP OF FAITH, as my Faith had never failed me before.

I moved to McKinney not knowing anyone, except my family. It was time for me to roll up my sleeves and dig into my new lifestyle, new organizations, new friends, new grocery stores, new everything! It was overwhelming, and then COVID hit 3 months after I moved in. By this time, most organizations had their cliques and best friends and probably didn't need new friends. But I persevered. Onward and Upward!

Still, I never dreamed what my LEAP OF FAITH had in store for me once I could get out and explore my new surroundings. First, I got involved with my church. That's always a good start. Then I navigated my way around the city and found everything I yearned for that I had in Dallas, Duncanville, and Frisco.

Lo and behold, one of my friends told me about Lifetime Fitness in Allen, and I should check it out. I looked into it and noticed they had a water aerobics class every day. That got my attention. So, I signed up for this class, and I hit the jackpot, lottery, megaball, you name it.

My LEAP OF FAITH was staring me right in the face!

These women went above and beyond, inviting me into their inner circle! I met my Utopia with these senior ladies, aka my adult water babies. Over the last five years, we became a sisterhood, a sorority, a friendship circle, sharing our stories, laughing, eating, and caring for each other like a solid family. We have quarterly themed luncheons (you'd better have an outfit for each event). Some of us go out for lunch once a week at various restaurants. We all share our values and welcome all cultures into our circle of friends. We are so diverse in our ethnics that we all learn different ideas and dialects as we educate each other! They all have accents, but mine stands out because I'm from New Jersey! We can laugh at each other... many of us order the same swimsuits and have certain days when we wear them, so we look like a swim team!! Who does this??

I am sharing this with you as I sat one day at one of our luncheons and became very contemplative. I looked at all these "water babies" in all their different themed outfits and thought to myself, " MY LEAP OF FAITH" once again is staring me right in the face.

Always trust your decisions, even when you are wary, as fate will carry you to a wonderful place you didn't know existed. Don’t be afraid to take that LEAP OF FAITH!