Charles Remembers: Young John Farley

It was a hot drowsy Saturday morning in the Okanogan. A small crowd of locals was gathering near the Tonasket outdoor pool because there was
going to be a swimming exhibition that day. It was a word of mouth
event and mostly it was the friends and family of young John
Farley. John could swim as fast as anyone but today's show was to see
how many laps John could swim underwater that morning at the pool.
The pool was actually quite long and the water was clear. It was
uncertain as to how many laps we could expect John to swim underwater
but he was smiling and laughing poolside with all of his friend and
seemed confident he would put on a show.
John's parents were there with his sister Susan. That's where I come
in. I was there with Susan and I loved being with her. She was a smart
aleck, pretty and I just loved spending as much time as I could with
her. Life was easier because any thing Susan did I wanted to do. So
there I was at a 15 year old's swimming exhibition. I was seventeen and
I was far more interested in getting as close as I could to Susan's body
than paying attention to the show.
Susie Q that's what I wanted to call her but she was too smart for
that. She was really intelligent and knew everyone. When I was with
her she was all I thought about. At times I could be distracted but I
was crazy about Susan. Susan made fun of everyone and had a lot of
comments on what made people tick.
There was a big elm tree by the pool and Susan and I stood under it arm
in arm leaning on each other and the tree and looking at the pool. We
had been going out for about a year and being there with Susan was a
thousand times better than showing up at the Tonasket pool unescorted.
John lumbered up on the low dive and went deep underwater like a
dolphin. He started to breaststroke underwater with such grace I leaned
forward to watch him. Both his arms spreading out before him and
pressing backwards to gain speed. First he did one lap and then two
with his arms propelling him faster and faster. After two laps John
pushed off swiftly and before you knew it he had gone three laps. The
people in the crowd were beginning to clap for John and he effortlessly
stretched out and touched the side of the pool for lap number four. I
began to let go of Susan and started to cheer for John as he made it 5
laps. John's mother got excited and she began to cheer. John made it
to a sixth lap and then he had to come up for air with a giant burst.
The crowd was buzzing and John was smiling and laughing and having a
lot of 15-year-old fun.
As everyone was patting John on the back and congratulating him I was
staring at Susan again. I loved to look at her and in that moment and
in that light I saw for the first time how beautiful she was. That was
the day I really fell in love with Susan and wanted to spend the rest of
my life in that 17 year old moment.