Water World...

Water World has to be one of my favorite places. For those of you who don't know, it is a large water park here in Denver. It's huge an beautiful and amazing...and I love it.

I worked there for three years--four if you count the summer that I worked on a film that was shot there. I was a lifeguard, and I loved being a lifeguard. Besides the fact that I got paid to tan and swim, it was nice to feel like I was a part of something--it was nice to feel like I was important, because I helped save lives.

Water World holds such a special place in my heart--we share a long history....

I remember visiting Water World as a kid. The place was so big--and there was so much to do! Our parents even let us roam around on our own...so we could cause at least a little mischief.

My brothers were the first to work there. One lifeguarded while another started in concessions. I think the next year they were both lifeguards. But I would have to drive them sometimes, and I remember dropping one off, then deciding to drive to Wyoming for the day, then come back and pick him up. This is when I was still working at the library....

Finally, someone convinced me it would be a good idea for me to lifeguard too. So I applied, trained, bought the most conservative uniform (with shorts) and went for it. It was a summer of self-discovery...also the summer I would meet my future (ex)husband.

That first summer was really when I started to look at myself as a person...as someone within this skin that God had given me...as someone separate from my family, my friends, my boyfriend. I went from wearing a one piece uniform with shorts to a lifeguard bikini....and a tan to match! The shift exemplified how I had come to accept myself a little more...as a person within, but separate from the world. It was also the summer I stopped cutting.

The first summer was so...interesting. I felt awkward and powerful all at the same time. There was so much to learn--and so many mistakes to make...but it was all under the sunshine, which somehow made it all better.

I got engaged the first summer....it was somewhere in the middle....I was young...17. The ring was made of bamboo and from Cambodia....but the boy was not for me. He was gone all summer, and it took me a month and a half to realize that I was much happier when he was gone...and that's when I stopped cutting...and called off the engagement.

I still remember the day...the day I met him. He was tall, dark and handsome...he made me laugh. He wore white shoes, white socks, a blue patterned Hawaiian shirt, dark blue shorts, a dark blue cap, sunglasses and a fanny pack. He was expressive and full of smiles...

We worked at the same place again a few days later--he helped me put up my umbrella first thing in the morning because I was too short. At the end of the day, he asked for my email. Within a week, we were a couple.

The next summer, I worked at Water World again. We were still a couple--he worked there as well. We caused some trouble, some scandal--all with no effort. I remember the frustration, and wishing that everyone would just grow up...this was the summer I learned not to trust college boys...because of a group of them, I cut my foot open to the bone on one side...

The third summer was worse...and my brother broke his ankle that year. It was another summer of movie-worthy young love romance....and not much else.

It was a couple years before I was back to work on that film...we only filmed for a month, but it was a very, very long month. There were days and days and days of getting to Water World an hour before sunrise...herding people around like cats, mind reading and playing games....trying to be anything and everything to make everyone happy. This was the summer I got dragged behind a golf cart for about 10 feet or so...and spent the rest of the day doing my job-so well that my boss had no idea. I worked so hard that summer, just trying to make everyone happy...and that never works. But I have so many memories...including trying to surf on Thunder Bay...on a real surfboard. It was amazing.

When I got engaged again, I strongly considered getting married at Water World--especially since we had met there. We settled for having our engagement pictures done there...

The summer I had wrist surgery....I got a season pass to Water World. The days that I was not working as a nanny I spent laying out by the lazy river or wading around the bay, holding my arm up high so it wouldn't get wet...

Today was the first time I have been to Water World since the divorce. So much has changed....but all the memories remain. Every spot.....every ride has a memory tied to my ex in some way. A stolen kiss, a ride together, a fight....love at first sight....

It was easier than I thought it be. Maybe that's because I was distracted by the kids, but I think it's because I feel right....

I stood in Thunder Bay today, and just looked around at all the history. I could see the spot when I first met him, the new smoothie bar that was created as a result of the movie, the paths we walked...all the shared moments. But as the water rushed over and around me...I just felt free. I am no longer a slave to those moments. They are a part of who I am, but they no longer define who I am. I am no longer "so and so's girlfriend" or "wife," I am just....Lisa. Just a girl...in the world...in the water...counting as the lifeguards scan...watching as children duck under waves...smiling as the sun warms my shoulders...

I am free....the feeling of the water rushing over my skin reminds me that all that was lost is washed away...and all that is left is the feeling of newness...cleanliness.

Freedom.

I love Water World...and I am so glad that I have a season pass this year. We are going to have some wonderful moments this summer...just the two of us.