Proverbs Up Close And Personal

C h a p t e r 6
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in
the end it leads to death.
−Proverbs 14:12
When I was a sophomore or junior, I had dated a nice young fellow We had a great time, usually with a group called Christian Endeavor that hung out together at church or at friends’ houses—sometimes on retreats which included swimming, sports, campfires, etc. with sponsors from the church. I liked Donnie a lot, but after a while he became enamored with another nice young girl. Unfortunately for me, I still had a crush on him.
One day in the summer, the wife of the youth pastor at our church called to ask if I would like to go with them for the day to New Hampshire. All the kids loved Don and Chris for they were dedicated to helping the youth and genuinely cared for us. In turn, we adored them and often confided in them as they helped us wend our way through our teen-age years. Perhaps that was why they invited me on this day trip, for they invited Donnie, too, and we both accepted.
We all had a great day together, although I can’t tell you now what we did other than just kibitzing and enjoying one another’s company. It happened to be the 4th of July and after a fun day we got home in the early evening.
After Don and Chris delivered us at the church, Donnie asked if I would like to go swimming. I reminded him that we couldn’t get into Rosemary Lake because there was a chain link fence all around it and when the life guard went off duty, they locked the gate so no one, particularly the youth, would try to go swimming by themselves or cause other problems.
Donnie, who really wasn’t a wild or unruly youth, responded that we could climb the fence. It was a hot day and the idea of cooling off in Rosemary Lake was very inviting, especially with Donnie as my companion. There was a problem, however. While Donnie was an excellent swimmer and I had heard he had even been taking life-saving classes, I, on the other hand, could barely dog paddle. Still, here was Donnie, so handsome and charming, asking me to go swimming—me, the one he had enjoyed so much a few months before. Maybe he was getting interested in me again. He didn’t know that I wasn’t a swimmer, but I told myself that I was getting better at my doggy-paddling, plus there was a rope that ran from the short pier to the raft in the middle of the lake which was used by beginning swimmers when they were being taught to swim. I figured if I ran into trouble, I could always grab on to that. Furthermore, if I didn’t accept the offer, I might not get asked to do anything again with Donnie. It became obvious to me that I had to say, “Yes,” to this invitation.
We agreed to go home and put on our bathing suits under our clothes and meet a half hour later at Rosemary Lake.
I changed into my bathing suit and then put shorts and a t-shirt over it. It wasn’t long until I was heading for Rosemary Lake, eagerly anticipating the time with Donnie—though a bit apprehensive about the prohibited fence-climbing and especially the swimming. However, my anticipation of a date with Donnie blurred my good sense, and I hurried along to my destination.
Soon Donnie and I were climbing the fence—no problem for me as I had always been somewhat of a tom-boy growing up and climbed many a tree as a child. We stripped off our outer clothing and before we knew it, we were in the water. I had barely got completely wet when I saw that Donnie was already half-way to the raft. I began my doggie-paddling in earnest, close to the rope, by the way.
It didn’t take Donnie long to reach the raft and climb aboard. He then looked back to see me struggling toward him. I wasn’t even half-way, but I was in way over my head, literally, and I was getting tired. He could see I was having trouble so he swam back to me, at which time I told him I didn’t think I could make it to the raft. He found the rope which was well below the water line and gave it to me, however, it wasn’t meant to really hold anyone out of the water, just something more for moral support than anything else. So, I went under.
He boosted me up and I caught my breath, but I really didn’t know what I would do as I was pretty well exhausted. As I tried to kick my feet to buoy me up, I went under again. . . .

Come, join me in Chapter 6 as I relate the rest of my ill-fated escapade. Hope to meet you there.