For me?!

"Do you want me to teach you how to breathe in the water?" I had said to a woman flailing around and having great difficulty (at least she was in the slow lane).  "I'll go over to the baby pool with you so you can touch the bottom and I can show you.  You just tip your head to the side and breathe in through the mouth, then back into the water and out through the nose."

Well, she tried and tried, but after half-an-hour, still couldn't get it.  I also failed at helping her manage her arms.  It's very difficult trying to teach an adult to swim because they have a lot of fear and can't relax.  She was also Chinese, where very few ordinary children learn to swim. 

So, I let it go, but continued to see her most mornings struggling along.  We became somewhat friendly, but only in the water; we didn't socialize outside the Y, as I do with a number of other woman.  So you can imagine my total surprise when she came to the edge of the pool deck this morning, as I was getting out, with a Christmas present!  I was especially surprised because I often shoo her out of the medium lane when she gets in there.  "You're too slow for this lane, you have to use the slow lane," I will say, as much as a favour for other swimmers and the lazy lifeguards who won't tell people to change lanes.

This is the lovely purse/wallet she presented me with.  "I hope it brings you luck in the year of the monkey," she said.  I was flabbergasted!