Water Aerobics

The ladies that attended the Watertown Community Center Water Aerobics Class were a tight-knit group. Some of them actually did knit, but that’s not the type of tight-knit this is referencing. (Although, Mrs. Pearl’s crocheting skills did win her a blue ribbon at the county fair three years in a row, but that’s a different story altogether). This is the type of tight-knit that comes with knowing each other for years and years and years—helping each other burp babies and rock toddlers and tend to children; handing each other tissues and an arm to lean on when those babies started sassing back or went off to college or married some ruffian; or bringing over casseroles when ovens just up and quite working when you had twenty people coming over for a church meeting on a Wednesday night.

These ladies have been through it all together. And now, they are all together at the morning water aerobics class at the Watertown Community Center, four days a week—just as they’ve always done for the past eight years.

Their numbers have dwindled down to five. Mrs. Laurel moved to Florida where the humidity helped her arthritis. Mrs. Chevril moved to the Chicago suburbs to be closer to her kids. Ms. Bay was off on a honeymoon with Dwayne Sorrel—they had met on a Caribbean cruise last March and were married on board before they docked. And Mrs. Pearl was still in town but could not attend the class given her recuperation from her recent knee-replacement surgery.

All that was left was Ginger Gentian, Rosemary Rohr, Myrtle Mason, Lavender Linley, and Angelica Adams.

The women called themselves “The Ladies”.

“I’m going to go see The Ladies—breakfast is on your own,” Miss Ginger called out to her husband, Gunter, as she grabbed her gym bag by the door. Gunter just grunted and readjusted the comics sections of the newspaper.

“Gotta go, dear—off to see The Ladies,” Miss Rosemary said into the phone to her daughter (who had the nerve to live all the way over in Rhode Island) while she searched her purse for her keys.

“I’m going to see The Ladies,” Miss Angelica explained to her cat as she searched for her goggles. Sir Purrsalot just flicked his tail and continued his morning grooming routine. “Oh, don’t give me that attitude, Purrsy—I won’t be gone long,” Miss Angelica fretted.

“Let’s go see The Ladies,” Miss Myrtle and Miss Lavender said to each other as they got into the car. They both lived in the same apartment complex only two doors down from each other and thought it only prudent to carpool.

The Ladies, like clockwork, arrived at the Watertown Community Center (or the WCC as the townsfolk called it) at exactly 5:45 a.m.

“Good morning, Ladies,” chirped Penelope Perkins, WCC’s Welcome Desk Clerk/Facilities Schedule Coordinator/Coffee Maker Extraordinaire. She was pouring fresh water into the tank of the coffee pot. “Sorry, the coffee will be ready soon. Hit snooze too many times this morning,” she chuckled. Her joke was met with silence. The Ladies were not amused. It wasn’t that they didn’t have a sense of humor; they were just…particular.

The ladies that attended the Watertown Community Center Water Aerobics Class were a tight-knit group. Some of them actually did knit, but that’s not the type of tight-knit this is referencing. (Although, Mrs. Pearl’s crocheting skills did win her a blue ribbon at the county fair three years in a row, but that’s a different story altogether). This is the type of tight-knit that comes with knowing each other for years and years and years—helping each other burp babies and rock toddlers and tend to children; handing each other tissues and an arm to lean on when those babies started sassing back or went off to college or married some ruffian; or bringing over casseroles when ovens just up and quite working when you had twenty people coming over for a church meeting on a Wednesday night.