You can imagine the leap of faith that was necessary in order to turn my pool project into a reality. My husband was strongly against it, and my in-laws thought I was out of my mind. Put a swimming pool in the garage? Preposterous! We are not wealthy people. I am on SS, and my husband is a house painter. I had a little nest egg put aside that had been burning a hole in my pocket for years. I decided to go for it in spite of predictions of failure from the people in my life I respect most. These doubters, however, have long since eaten their words gladly. Even my father-in-law told me he is proud of me.

Getting in and out of the pool was one of my greatest concerns. The pool is sunk into the garage floor. We had to jackhammer it up and excavate in order to get the pool edge to be “sit down” height. I sit down on the edge of the pool, which is about eight inches wide. Then I swing my legs over the edge one at a time. When I do that, I can stand on the submerged side bench inside the pool, and I am in. The first year or so, I needed something solid to hang on to while swinging my legs over, so there was a sort of fixed-in-place trapeze positioned so it is over my head when I sit on the pool side. That gave me two good handholds to keep me steady as I turn. About a year ago, we removed the grab bar. I no longer need it.

Kicker, you said that you worry that your tummy might make you sink? Did you know that swimming is perhaps the only sport in which being “fluffy” is an advantage? Fat tissue is lighter than water, so it makes you float easily. Muscle tissue, on the other hand, is heavier than water, so it makes you sink. Fluffy is floaty. It is when I am weightless in warm water that my body seems at peace. I put in special spa water softeners, plus spa aromatherapy products into the water, and I am in seventh heaven. In a way it is sort of Spartan in nature. More attention was paid to function than form. But to me it is heaven on earth.