It’s 8 o’clock.
Dark outside. Not cold, but just chilly enough to make you think twice.
Anthony wants to go to the pool.
None of the other kids we’re vacationing with want to come.
But he still wants to go.
So I take him.
I sit by the edge while he swims alone.
He’s having fun, but I can tell—he’s a little disappointed I didn’t go in too.
And I wonder:
What will he remember?
That I stayed dry on the lounge chair?
Or that I said yes, grabbed the towels, and brought him out for a late-night swim when no one else would?
I won’t know. Not for a long time.
But we went to the pool.
And sometimes, showing up is enough.
