Day 1309: Chance twists

I reached 62.48 miles on July 31!  That's twelve and a half miles ahead of last year's pace. With continued good weather and no injuries, I should be able to reach 100 miles by early Sept.   Last July 31 was the hardest day of the 2014 swim season.  I was two miles short of the fifty mile goal, the water was only 70 ish and the air was cold, too.   Probably I had hypothermia by the end.  What a difference this year.  Today, I had to get out of the 90 degree water frequently to keep cool enough to swim.

Last night's show was delightful, but different from Keillor's performances we've seen in the past.  He's turning 73 this month and this is his final tour.  The assortment of songs they performed and his stories were very sentimental.   Keillor talked about how lives are changed because of luck and the kindness of others.

From his own childhood, he related stories about two teachers who made a huge difference in his life.  The first was his shop teacher who kicked him out of class because he couldn't successfully produce a tin flour scoop and he wouldn't stop talking.  And where did he send him?  To a speech class.  Next, in class one day, his English teacher gave him a copy of The New Yorker and said, "I thought you might find this interesting."  He read the collection of short stories by first rate authors from cover to cover multiple times.  Did those chance events change the direction of his life?  Probably.

Steve and I talked a lot about the twists that changed our lives.  Bicillin saved his life when he came down with bacterial meningitis at age six.  It had recently been developed and the doctors tried it as a last resort to save a critically ill child.  How many other lives have been saved because he was?

My good fortunate was not quite as dramatic, but it changed everything for both of us.  At the end of my third year of college, I needed only nineteen hours to graduate.  As I planned another summer of courses, I realized I had to have New York State history to complete my social studies certification.  By incredible luck, a visiting professor came to Fredonia and taught the course just once that summer.  I was able to piece together all my remaining requirements by taking three courses each summer term. Classes went from 8 am to 11:00 am, 1:00 to 4:00 pm and 6:00 to 9:00 each day.  I worked between classes and stayed up most of the night doing all the course work.  The outcome?  Six As.   On August 21, 1970, I got my degree a year early.

Over that busy summer I also applied for jobs and got my first teaching position at Brocton MS teaching 7th grade social studies.    Teaching down the hall was another Fredonia high grad from the class of 1964.  I knew her a little bit because her younger sister was in my class.  We became good friends.  One night in early December we went down to the old Colonial Inn for drinks and dancing.  And there she introduced me to a classmate of hers. He was a tall, skinny man with a huge mustache and his name was Steve.

If I hadn't been able to get the NYS history class that summer, I would have had to stay in college another semester and graduate in December.  I would not have gotten the job at Brocton.  I would not have gotten into Tier 1 of the retirement system.  I would not have met Steve.  Nor would I have married him on August 21, 1971.  Think of it.  No children.  Consider all the people their lives have touched.  No backpacking,  Steve says he probably would have reenlisted if he hadn't met me.  Vietnam went on for five more years.  Would he have survived another tour as a medic?  Ahh, too many ifs to think about.

So, Garrison Keillor's message was certainly true for us.

Ida's Magic