Swim the Deepest Sea

In my young adult years, I was very fond of the music of The Grass Roots. I wasn’t alone – they did have 21 top ten hits over the span of one decade. The biggest reason I liked them was that their songs were, by and large, upbeat and happy and easy to sing along with.
Hits like “Sooner or Later” and “Temptation Eyes” were tunes I could belt out any time. It was especially fun when driving down a highway. My all-time favorite recording of theirs was a love song called “I’d Wait a Million Years.”
It’s a love song, true, but as I have gained both age and wisdom, I have a newfound appreciation for these particular lyrics.
The refrain goes: “But I’d wait a million years, walk a million miles, cry a million tears; I’d swim the deepest sea, climb the highest hill, just to have you near me.”
I realize that this is how many feel in the throes of new-found (and often, older) love. I’m sure the lyrics were intended to convey this magical feeling between people who are deeply in love. As I have aged, however, I’ve found it to be a decades-long quest to find a different kind of magic.
For example, it took me several years – nearly ten – to find a masseuse, after the one I had used for years retired. I tried several places, and though not necessarily uncomfortable, none felt quite right. Finally, two years ago, I stumbled into (well, to be honest, my husband gave me a massage certificate for my birthday) my current place and found the magic hands of Alexandra. Turns out, though it felt like a million years, I only had to wait about a decade.
In my later years, sometime around my 40’s, I started noticing ingrown toenails. These are painful. For those of you who have never had them, here’s my advice: don’t. They really hurt. And I was fine dealing with them until my 50’s, but then my arthritis started making it difficult to bend over far enough to reach them.
To add insult to injury, my vision was such that if I could get close enough, I couldn’t see with my glasses off and if I put them on, it was too close. So began my search for a pedicurist/nail technician who could deal with my toes. And not cause me pain.
The first three I found were simply too rough. The fourth one actually gave me an infected toe. Argh. The fifth and sixth talked a lot. Too much. Finally. FINALLY! I found Marcie. It took me 20 years to find her, and I felt like I had walked a million miles, but she takes care of me just right.
Hair stylist/barber has been nearly life-long quest. I have tried too many salons and had so many terrible (really, terrible) haircuts/styles that it’s almost ridiculous. I can’t describe the poodle-perm in my 20’s. It was horrible. Then in my 30’s I went with a military buzz cut (well, not quite, but close enough). It didn’t flatter me. In my 40’s I found a stylist I really liked. Then she had a baby, so I had to find someone else.
It took me another 20 years and I felt like I had cried a million tears, but I have found Sonia. For two whole years now, I’ve had a great hair cut – one I can style myself with little fuss.
Don’t even get me started on the dentist-hunt. But for teeth, hair and nails, it appears I will walk a million miles, cry a million tears, or climb the highest hill. It’s love of a different kind.