This personal essay was one of the first I ever had published in a larger market, published in Momsense in 2006. My Aunt Nancy continues to be an inspiration and amazing woman in my life. This one’s for you, Nancy!

“One more time!” my Aunt Nancy sputtered, bobbing up and down in the water, her water-skis tangling at her ankles.  “What do I need to do?” she shouted. 

          “Keep your bottom down longer!” my dad yelled and turned the boat past her to bring her the ski rope. 

          She gave him a thumbs-up sign.  I sat in the boat incredulous, my twenty-eight-year-old arm holding the orange safety flag up over my head.  My Aunt Nancy was almost sixty.  She hadn’t water skied in nearly forty years.  Yet, there she was, behind the boat, drinking half the lake, determined to ski before she finished the day.  We all cheered when she finally stood up on her skis and stayed up for a minute and thirty-five seconds.  She crashed and we spun around to pick her up.  She flopped back into the boat, breathing heavily, her legs shaking.

          “That was great!” she said.  My dad started congratulating her and began a replay of her various wipe outs.  I sat quietly.  I wondered if I would ski until I was sixty.  I wondered if I would still try new things when I was sixty.  And then I realized that I couldn’t remember the last time I had tried something new at twenty-eight.  With two babies at home, I had all the newness I could take.  I didn’t vacation in new places.  I didn’t order new menu items at restaurants.  I didn’t drive a different direction to work.  Ever. 

          My aunt inspired me.  I needed to do something new.  Right then.  After I finished my ski run, I called to my dad for the wake board.  With an eyebrow raised, he slid the wakeboard to me on top of the water.  I strapped it to my knees with trembling fingers, somehow feeling I was making a life change with the snap of the Velcro. 

          Since that summer, I have tried to stretch myself with something new every year.  I try to pick something I’m scared to do. One year I led a mom’s anger support group.  Later, I auditioned with clammy hands and a thumping heart for a community musical theatre production, scored a role and sang and danced through one summer.  I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but I have found an enthusiasm for life that was once waning.  And more importantly, I have seen how God uses new experiences to show me how to trust Him more. 

          In the past few years, I have seen my aunt take up golf and motorcycling.  I have watched as other Godly women in my life tackle new challenges with grace and gusto.  I am aiming to follow their example.  So when you pass me in the produce aisle, an apple in one hand and an unfamiliar fruit in my other hand, challenge me to try the new one.  I’m still working to grow by trying new things.

                         Nancy and I in the 70’s- she is so beautiful, inside and out!