Just keep swimming, just keep swimming....

    Looks like Don Draper has adopted the Dory the Blue Fish approach to life.  (True confession: I still go to Disney movies, without kids. See "keep swimming" clip from my favorite, "Finding Nemo," below. Such a great metaphor, don't you think?)

    Of course, Don wouldn't have seen "Finding Nemo" in 1965. (And I couldn't believe the Stones released "Satisfaction" that year.  I was thinking it was around '67 or '68.) So, we assume he's swimming for his health, even though he lights up immediately upon leaving the NY Athletic Club while noticing the world changing around him: Teen girls in mod fashions, impossibly young mothers, integration in the neighborhood, oh my!

   That scene reminded me of a pivotal moment in my adolescent life.  My father belonged to the Kansas City Club downtown (no doubt a very segregated place, at that time, speaking of integration), which had a pool just like the one shown in last night's episode.  In the spring of '68, he let me invite three of my 7th grade friends for a Saturday swim date and lunch at the club.  At that time, indoor swimming was a really big deal, and my gals pals and I were excited.  We anticipated it for weeks, talking about what suits and cover-ups we would wear.  Three days before the big event, I got my period for the first time which occurred in a mortifying and highly traumatic way.  Not only did I have to tell my friends why we had to postpone (it would be years before I even considered using a tampon - another traumatic yet hilarious story), my father had to be informed, as well.  (I made my mother tell him while I hid in my room.)
   This is another reason why I am a Maddict.  It's more than just nostalgia or a blast from the past.  It's a long, winding, unpredictable trip down Memory Lane, ruts and all.