Yellow Rose's Garden

Time is a wheel in constant motion always rolling us along. Tell me who wants to look back on their years and wonder where those years have gone. Sanders & Sillers

There's a thought provoking line. It's from a song called I Hope You Dance. It's about taking chances even though things may go wrong. I got to thinking about that fact that there's more I regret that I didn't try than I tried and failed at.

I will never regret getting on the back of a horse and just one time flying at a full gallop around a pasture. I did it because riding was a lifelong dream, but even moreso, I would never ask a scout in my troop to try something that I didn't have the courage to do. A few months later ended any possiblity of doing it again. My regret, that I didn't learn sooner. My younger daughter start riding at age 6. It was one of those, "I never had the chance to, but if you want to try...." things. Both of my girls can ride and can swim. Swimming is something I never learned to do, thanks to an over protective father who placed his own fears on me. He's also the reason I never learned to ride a bike. Now, I can't. My hip joint is close to fused, another residual of my accident. However, it beats the alternative. My son hasn't been given the opportunity to ride horses, but at least he's not afraid of the water. All three can ride a bike.

It's amazing how the fears of our parents change our lives. It's also amazing how someone else has to tell us about them. I found out why I was never allowed, yes, allowed to learn to swim when I was in my mid-teens. Seems Dad almost drowned as a boy. The logic of that escapes me. One would think that someone who nearly drowned would want their child to learn to swim or at least tread water. I was in pool with a bunch of my cousins, dear old Dad saw me splash someone, but apparently hadn't seen them nearly drown me. He took me into a bathroom and told me to put my head over the sink. Then proceded to just about shove his huge water filled hands up my nose. It's just lately that I've gotten over that. It's just lately that I put my face in the shower without freaking.

As for the bike, years after the fact, my husband told me that my dad said he'd been in a car that hit a girl on a bike. The girl apparently died on the way to the hospital. I have yet to ask my father about that. Here's the irony... Dad wouldn't let me have a bike because another child and a driver made a tragic mistake, yet, he insisted I learn to drive. What almost killed me? You got it... I was in a car driving and was hit almost head on by red Ford pickup. The good thing? My father has worn a seatbelt ever since my wreck.