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Troves & Tales

My mother’s swimsuit.

I spend a lot of time on Etsy looking at and liking a lot of things I know I will never buy. 

And one of my favorite things that sometimes happens is when an item from my past appears in my search results.  

So in looking up bathing suits I found it. Or it found me. My mother’s teal bathing suit.

And along with it came the shock of summer memories featuring my mother in this suit. 

My mother was more quiet and restrained when we were young. But in this bathing suit I saw a different version of her. Less stressed and careful, more free and relaxed. 

At our house, she’d slip into our pool and quietly, gracefully swim for a few laps or hang out near the edge of the water, not a part of the splashing chaos of kids around her. 

And I remember being delighted when once every summer, in this suit at the family cottage, she’d decide to give up her spot on the deck, lounging under the umbrella, to join us water skiing. From observer to participant. 

As the boat pulled her around the lake, I’d sit as passenger, my long thick blond hair whipping me sharply in the face. I watched in awe while she dropped from two skis to one with an ease I didn’t see in her elsewhere. I’d grin at how cool she looked.

And every time, in the pool or at the lake skiing, she’d get out of the water, dry off, and return to her other self.  

I’m sure she had other bathing suits, but this is the one that I remember. This is the one that holds those special memories. 

And now, before I close all those Etsy tabs, here are a few of the other bathing suits I liked. If I’m not buying them, at least I can share them with you:

Record Shop

Just keep swimming?

Mile Marker

Swimwear makes waves!

Playground

Tag — You’re It!

Off Road

This week’s finds:

• The Moth podcast shares a beautiful story about a woman, her memories of her mom, and shells on a Juno, Alaska beach.

• Business Insider stitches together 200+ years of swimwear evolution. From bathing gowns to tankinis, you can trace the changing styles, fabrics, and definition of “indecent exposure”!

• Australia’s Powerhouse Museum Group is digitizing its 500,000+ object collection. A quick “swim” key-word search presents a sea of gems rich with detail and vivid images, like these 1983 'Australia's Cup' swim shorts. And this photo of the Santa Clara Swim Club from Speedo’s archive, its hand-written notes on the back indicating they were “US Women’s Senior National Champions”. You go, girls!

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