This is me as a 14-16 month old child. I’m not sure the exact timeframe, but I was born at the end of May, and this was definitely after my first birthday. The woman doting on me was my grandmother, and that was her pool. This is where I learned to swim, where I swam without floaties for the first time, and where I dunked myself under water while holding onto the ladder. I have dozens of memories here, from walking in the clover and Creeping Charlie covered yard and then climbing up the pool ladder to being booted for “adult swim” in which my parents and aunt and uncle would require us children to wander around the pool while they enjoyed the cooling waters without our incessant splashing. I have no actual memories of my Gram ever getting in the pool, so it’s kind of cool to see her smiling at me in a place where I have many childhood memories.

2023 update: I never quite realized how important sharing this photo would feel many years later, and yet…That child right there is an exact replica of the tiny person living in my grown-up house. I got my very own mini-me, and damn is it cool.