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I heard the gate clang shut. I slowly spun around in the water so as to not cause waves splashing back up against our bodies and squinted my eyes. Smile on my face. Always smile, you never know who needs it. I recognized her. It was the lady from upstairs. She looked dashing in the porcelain white cover-up shirt and her oversized sunhat that threw a big shade over her small shoulders. One day, I told myself, one day I will pull off a look like that. Maybe I just have more coming into my own to do. Or maybe one day I will have the luxury to care enough. We both greeted each other with a cordial hello. She proceeded to circle the pool and said out loud, more to herself than me, that she needed to find some shade. She almost completed the full circle before she selected a recliner with the nearby umbrella sprawled open over it. I had spun around again, losing sight of her. Before I knew it, she had tossed of her shirt and hat and slowly descended down the stairs into the pool. I watched her, but didn't say anything. She started talking. I listened. Always listen, you never know who needs it. "You know we've been neighbors for a long time and I still don't know your name" I smiled and replied by telling her my name. She in turn told me hers. She continued " and what's his name? " she asked, gesturing towards my son. I told her his name. There was a brief back and forth about pronouncing our names correctly. Neither his name nor mine seemed to be an easy thing to say for people. She continued with a bit more small talk about how nice the pool was fixed up, that this is only her second time coming out here ( you don't say lady, I never see you outside) and that she gets her water exercise in at the local YMCA. I continued to smile and listen. She was old. That kind of old where the frailty of the body shows through more than anything. This frailness is the first noticeable thing and is impossible to ignore when one interacts with that kind of oldness. She stopped talking for a minute and just looked at us. Then she said " he looks so happy, I just love his smile" gesturing at my son again. I simply nodded my head in agreement. Then she said "doesn't it feel nice to just be happy". My smile got bigger and I continued nodding my head in agreement. Silently I wondered what my frail old neighbor life's entailed that she finally decided to join us in the pool and just feel happy. I drew in a slow deliberate breath and exhaled completely, surrendering to the bliss of the moment, taking in the happiness that I was surrounded with. And it indeed felt nice to just be happy. ~•~ a beautiful milieu Image Werner Bischof