Page 50 of No Such Thing as Serendipity
“I love the water, but I’ve never been in a kayak.” I shook my head. “It’s stupid, but when I was younger, I always said I would attend Yale and be on their rowing crew.”
“Why do you call it stupid?”
I shrugged as I continued to paddle. “I don’t know. It was just the dreams of a naïve kid.”
“So you didn’t go to Yale?”
“Hardly.” I snorted. “NYU.”
“NYU is still prestigious.”
“I suppose.”
“They didn’t have a rowing team?”
“They did.”
“So?” Robyn stretched out the word. When I didn’t respond, she said, “Did you join the team?”
“No,” I answered, hoping she’d get the hint I didn’t want to talk about it.
“Why not?”
Nope.She didn’t get the hint. When I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye, I decided she’d picked up my cue, but she wouldn’t let me get away with the answer. Of course, she’d push this sharing shit.
“I was there on an academic scholarship. I couldn’t risk blowing it by being distracted by extracurriculars.”
“Do you regret that?”
What the fuck?She wouldn’t let this go.Did I regret it?“Don’t we all have regrets?” I was proud of my evasive answer.
“I suppose we do.” Robyn’s voice held a note of sadness. “That’s why I do this—teach.”
I glanced over at her, trying to ascertain her meaning. “I’m afraid I’m not getting the connection.”
She smiled at me before she turned her attention back to her rowing. “Ten years ago, I committed to living my life in a waythat I’d have little regrets, so it brings me joy to help others do the same.”
“So you have past regrets?” I asked.
“Don’t we all?” Robyn said, parroting my words back to me.
I chuckled. “I believe I’ve heard that line somewhere.”
“You noticed.” Robyn laughed. “To answer your question, yes, I’ve had more regrets than I would have liked, so I changed.”
We shifted into a single-file line to get through a narrow part of the creek. When we came back together, Robyn said, “The University of Wisconsin, here in Madison, has a rowing team.”
“Seriously?” It shouldn’t have surprised me with all the bodies of water nearby, but I’d assumed it was more of a coastal thing.
“Yep, and they have running water and electricity, too.”
Since Robyn was grinning when she said it, I responded, “Is that a recent development? Within the last decade or so?”
Robyn laughed. I liked her laugh. It was unrestrained and joyous. “I like it when you let your sense of humor shine,” she said.
“You mean when I remove the stick from my ass?”
Robyn laughed again. “You said it, not me.”
