July, 2025
We’re here for a good time
Not a long time
So have a good time
The sun can’t shine every day–Trooper, 1977
I wasn’t too sure where this blog would begin. I have a list of ideas but none of them were compelling enough to get me started. Then the other day, my daughter and I did something pretty spontaneous. My daughter is in her early 20s, disabled, and medically complex. So our version of spontaneity probably looks a bit different from some other peoples. One of her year-round mantras is “I can’t wait for the outdoor pools to be open.” And so with lovely weather in the forecast, and a free afternoon, we put our plan into motion and let the family WhatsApp know we were headed to the pool in a couple of days. I can almost do this outing on my own but not quite so having a second person is very helpful. No one was available from the family but then I reached out to a very good friend and she was a YES! My friend is also the mother of a child who is disabled and medically complex. He passed on about a year ago and was my daughter’s best friend. All this to say, my friend comes with the full skill set to help me with this outing. We had a wonderful time. The lifeguards greeted my daughter enthusiastically and went right into action to get the pool lift ready to get her in. After about 40 minutes in the pool, my daughter said “I think we should go now” which is her way of saying she’s had enough. Afterwards, after post-swim slurpees and potato chips from a gas station (also key ingredients of a summer outing), I texted my friend and thanked her again for coming. Her response said “I loved the memory of how important it is having a fun activity even if for such a short time. Glad my first time back was with you guys!”
Our City has four outdoor pools but only one of them is accessible. They are probably at least as old as me so apparently it’s not possible to upgrade them to current standards L Imagine trying to open four doors and only one opens. But other people are coming and going through the other three doors because they open for them. That’s what accessibility feels like a lot of the time. We get one door, you get all four.
Our City has one of the highest surpluses in our province, coming in with $432 million in 2021. And despite saying he doesn’t know how much money he makes, our Mayor earned $377,560 in 2024. But sure, ok, there’s no money to upgrade old outdoor pools (definitely no money to build new ones).
You might be thinking after reading all this, “Jennifer, who cares? There are newer indoor pools you can use.” Because that’s what City staff have told me again and again when I ask for accessibility for all our outdoor pools. But there is something a little bit magical about outdoor pools, especially when you live in a place where they are only open a few months of the year. Being outside and enjoying cool water on a hot day is a gift. And people just seem more social
in an outdoor pool. More there for fun and sunbathing and visiting than for getting all their laps in.
I often think about the link between accessibility and inclusion. Yes you can have inclusive moments and experiences in spaces and places that aren’t accessible. But it’s less frequent. Lack of accessibility is a passive (aggressive) method of controlling the spaces where disabled people can exist.
And it’s not just disabled people. A good book on this topic is “Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America” by Jeff Wiltse. I started to read it but now it’s lost somewhere in the menopausal haze of one of my many book bags and someday I will rediscover it and pick up where I left off.
Happy swimming!
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