First and Last Swim at Prince Gallitzin

My mother-in-law is preparing to move into assisted living at the end of October. (My husband's father passed away in December of 2010, so she has lived alone since then.) This means that she is very busy and very stressed. It also means that we are having lots of conversations about STUFF. Here is stuff, there is stuff. Do you want this stuff? What about THAT stuff?

And so we demur. No, we do not need the stuff. No, we do not have ROOM for the stuff. But then, somehow, we show up, and we sweat it out, and we carry and we pack up another carload of stuff, which we take to our house, and dutifully unload it. But where will it all go?

Last time, it was a couple of end tables, which just barely fit in my husband's 2010 Chevy Impala (a vehicle inherited from his dad - it was his father's last car). This day's stuff consisted mostly of stereo equipment, his father's model car collection (T. Tiger will have MANY new little cars to drive all around the house!), and a tiny bit of crystal.

First, we all had lunch out, at a place we have usually enjoyed, but the service was terrible, we waited more than an hour, and the food was mediocre. It was a disappointment to us all, and it sucked up time we did not have. Everyone is short-staffed due to the pandemic, and we did our best to be patient and understanding, but I do not think we will be back anytime soon.

Then we went to her house and sorted and packed things into the car. We fit more stuff than I could believe into it, using every inch of the back seat and the trunk. Oddly enough, my dad had offered me a bunch of empty containers on Monday, and I took them: guess what, we took them along and filled every one of those serendipitous containers with STUFF.

There was a big Penn State game on TV starting around 7:30, and it was a home game. So we hoped to be back to our house by 6:30 or so. After we packed up the car, we realized there would just be enough time to fit in a quick swim at Prince Gallitzin. The swimming areas in all of the state park beaches close in the coming week or so, so we knew this would be both our first AND last swim there.

And so we went swimming at Prince Gallitzin. And the water was warmer than anywhere we have swum lately, and the late afternoon sun shone on our faces as we floated all around. The bottom of the swimming area is - oddly - lined with cement, which is very slick from the mud, so you have to watch your step. There weren't many people there, which was a nice treat. That's my husband sitting on that picnic table to the right, watching the boats, after our swim.

Oh, and here's an important detail: on a canoe on these waters, my husband and I shared our first kiss, back in September of 1986! I met him in mid-August at a laundromat in State College, he asked me out, and (despite being engaged to someone else at the time), I said Yes. And pretty much that's where everything starts and ends. So happy 35th kissiversary to us!

Here is a song for the end of summer, when any swim could be your last: Donna Summer, with Last Dance.