How I Learned To Do Chair Massages Part 6

The Climbing Tower

I was so comfortable, I slept until 9:30 Saturday morning, and barely had time to attend to the essentials and get some breakfast into me before people started showing up. That morning, somebody brought in one of those climbing towers, where they strap you into a harness, so that if you slip, a cable breaks your fall. I had always wanted to try climbing one of those, so traded the owner for a you-know-what. Before I could climb two steps up, I could hear the news spreading throughout the entire camp, “Marly’s climbing the tower!”

I was 42 years old at the time and not in the best of shape, and it took me a long time to get to the top. It couldn’t been very fun for people on the ground to watch, yet I kept hearing different voices calling out, “Come on, Marly, you can do it!” My heart felt like it was pounding through my chest and I could barely breathe,  but I wanted to be able to say that I’d climbed the tower, and more importantly, I wanted to rappel from the top of the tower.

I actually slipped once and ended up hanging by the cable, and ten people told me to be careful. It was a whole lot more fun to hang than it was to climb. I knew the owner was forbidding kids from climbing up while I was there, and was therefore losing money because of me, so I asked if he wanted me to come down. He told me to take as much time as I needed. 

It was a fantastic feeling to finally reach the top and be able to push that button, but when I looked over the tower, there were a thousand people cheering for me. All those dear sweet people; they had known me for less to two days, and had taken me in as one of their own. I got to do my rappelling, but it was through a blur of tears and runny nose.

Learned A Few Things Continues In Two Days