I DID IT! I SURFED!

I was so scared last night. I had convinced myself that I would in fact die while surfing, that it would be my final act in my short life. I gave the girls lots of kisses, told them I loved them and gave some words of wisdom to my oldest daughter: “BE PATIENT WITH YOUR SISTER.” I went to bed with the nervous feeling in my stomach… like the night before you are induced to have a baby, start a new job, or appear on the news.

But this was something I promised myself I would do before I turned 30, and my husband was reassuring me that I was just a crazy lady.

I was nervous to go out in those big waves, maybe be eaten by a shark or stung by a ray, or drown or or or…I had thought of lots of scenarios.

Surfer Carlos Munoz (#10 in the world and #4 in Central America) agreed to teach this white-pudgy-freckle faced-splotchy red from the sun-old mom to surf. This is a little video of his surfing…

…and of course he got me right to that level by the end of our lesson.

HA. No.

First, we practiced on the sand. I learned how to jump up on the board and how to position/slide/land my feet the right way.

And then, as I faced the ocean to go through the break…

A HUGE MANNA RAY…

(the kind of manna ray that was the subject of a pamphlet on HOW TO DEAL WITH PAINFUL STINGS back at the house for emergencies)

WAS HEADED RIGHT FOR MY FACE…

MY FACE

IN THE OCEAN

It slid under the board and I, in fact, did not die.

But then after that, I noticed they were all around me! Some of them so large and bending their bodies that they looked like sharks.

Oh but I was going to do this; I was going to surf.

Even after the board flipped up and slammed me into the back of my head….

I was still going to do this.

Even after ingesting an enormous amount of salt water up my nose…

I WAS GOING TO DO THIS.

And I did.

I got up 3 times.

And I surfed.

I DID IT.

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