November 27, 2007

What would Debra do?


After the memorial service, which was beautiful and emotional and funny and crushingly sad and all the things you would expect, Debra and Tony’s friend John stood on a chair and said that a few years ago they had started a day-after-Thanksgiving tradition of jumping in the freezing cold water of Ocean Beach, just below the Cliff House where we all were gathered. He was going in, he said. So we all traipsed down the hill and about 20 brave and desperate people stripped down and ran in.

I was going to keep my underwear on but I thought, is that what Debra would do? no way.

The tide was far out, quite a long way to run naked in the chilly wind with tourists staring, but the sun was setting and the water wasn’t that cold. It felt good to dive through the black waves, to feel the icy burn all through me, and hear the shrieks and shouts of the others splashing nearby.

Bart took video of it, but as no one signed a model release — including me — I ain’t posting that.

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