Physical Truths by Susan L.

  Yesterday's shopping spree to get what I need to go south has left me feeling very grateful. A couple of years ago, I wouldn't have been able to spend the money on new items because it simply wasn't there. It would have meant going to a second hand shop instead. It was nice to get new shorts, new pajamas, new shoes and a new bathing suit. All items that will come in handy once summer roles around. Although, when it's minus twenty-five, that feels like it's a long, long way away.
  The realities of age kicked in a bit too. The bathing suit is designed to flatter a mature, fuller figure: a Grandma suit. The kind I swore I wouldn't be caught dead in.
  Oh.
  I am a grandmother... and thankfully far from dead. The physical reality and wisdom of age has helped me make a prudent decision regardless of youthful oaths. At least, that's what I am trying to tell myself. The suit is more like a little sun dress than the figure hugging one pieces I wore when there wasn't as much figure to hug. Not that I've ever been unsubstantial.
  There is an added benefit to being overweight that I learned last year. I float. Never used to because I was built like a tank with broad shoulders and thick neck. My legs like were like tree trunks. Every part of me was solidly muscled from farm work like tossing bales of hay and eighty kilo bags of grain around. Trying to stay on top of the water was fruitless. I'd sink like a stone. The muscles are still there, just not as toned. I hope to change that when I return from vacation.
  In the mean time, thank You Lord, for your most generous provision. Help me not be ashamed of my lumpy, bumpy, pudgy middle-aged figure. Help me enjoy the water without being self conscious. Help me maintain my beach walking mindset when I return to the chill and bluster of an Ontario winter. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
  "By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation, You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, and of the far-off seas." Ps 65:5