Lovesick on a Board

Quest
Jack and Hannah Ormerod and Lucia, Delphine & Fin
Fri 10 Mar 2017 16:54
For a long time on Quest, we’ve had a criteria of five favourite films you can watch without ever getting bored. Mine are to date; Blue Crush, Almost Famous, Twister, Nobody’s Fool and Fool’s Gold. Real highbrow I know, especially since two of these movies have the word ‘fool' in them. From Blue Crush being on my list, I knew that surfing was cool. What I didn’t know was that standing on a piece of foam along a breaking wave would make you happy. Not adrenalin-happy either, not completely anyway. More falling-in-love happy. Like you swear you could do it every day for the rest of your life and you'd never get bored. Or as my friend, Phil says (though not specifically about me); ‘Naval-gazing, hippie twat.’ Guilty :)

I never thought I could surf. I’m the person in aerobics class who goes left when everyone else goes right. And then Icah, son of Jamaican Rastafarian surf school parents came to my rescue. It wasn’t like the waves were big. Just getting on the board seemed impossible. Still, after watching Lu pick it up so quickly, I was determined to give it a go. In between discovering that being pummelled does an excellent job of cleaning out your sinuses, I saw a orange t-shirted, dreadlocked-head wading through the waves towards me. ‘Let me give you some advice.’ Icah broke it down. How to hold the surfboard, how to hold your elbows, how to place you feet. How to stand. When to stand. Which waves looked ok, which waves don’t. Meanwhile, Lulu zoomed past on almost every one. 

Eventually, I heard Icah shout, ‘Paddle!’ I paddled. I heard him shout, ‘Stand now!’ My brain had gone past the point of questioning. With the white surf catching me up like it was shouting in my ear, I stood up. I felt like I had broken the sound barrier with my two feet. That is, until I noticed another yellow board riding the same wave. Unlike my solo status, there were two people on this board. Jack held onto the back while a long, blond-haired kid was standing at the front like she was doing the twist. We fell off our boards at the same moment. The surf enveloped us and the sand gave a scrub for good measure but all I could see was that kid standing on her board. The surfboard leash snatched my ankle. Back up to the world. Delphine’s head was bobbing around in the wake. Jack was already smiling.

I try not to think too much about what Delphine can and cannot do. Perhaps because at this time in her life, it links in with what she will and will not be able to do when she’s grown. For all I know, she may be reading this very sentence in years to come and laughing her head off. 'What do you mean you didn’t think I’d tie my shoelaces or be able to drive?’ Sorry, honey. That’s the thing with cerebral palsy. Things can be hard to call. On the other hand, who needs shoelaces when there’s velcro? And does everyone need to drive? 

The kid stood up on the surfboard. No matter what isn’t possible for her, at this instant everything seemed possible. I love you, Delphine.

No pics though. That’s the thing when you’re surfing! Doh.. Instead, Steve enjoyed his birthday card. Hopefully more surfing to come.. fingers and broken toes crossed.. 

Love from Quest and her crew xx