Back in the day, my parents signed us up for roller skating lessons. I'm not sure how it came about but I have a vague idea of my Mom not being able to roller skate and not wanting that childhood horror to be ours too. I am not now and have never been a joiner. At the age of six I once sat through an hour long art class, refusing to make a dinosaur out of clay because I was uncomfortable in the situation. The fact that my parents risked it again and put me in lessons amazes me. What if I'd just stood at the rail, not willing to move?
Turns out that wasn't an issue. I was a roller skating fool! I'd fly around the rink, face sweaty, feet blistered, heart happy, 80's pop music giving me wings! Fun doesn't begin to describe what I had when I was roller skating.
The year we got roller skates for Christmas stands out as one of the best ever. We were back home, visiting family, staying at a Grandma's house. I remember waking up and going into my parent's room, sitting on the edge of their bed and putting those skates on right away, sleepy and not all the way awake but very happy.
As a Mom, I look at those skates in a different light. I've always been awe-struck that my Mom found two pairs of roller skates, that fit us, second hand. It was, as she loves to say, a God thing. Money was tight back then, but I didn't know it.
I had a pair of roller skates of my very own!
Oh, I envy you, Michelle! My biggest Christmas wish was always "shoe" skates. I always got the skates with the key. I think my mother still feels bad about it :)
ReplyDeleteI can't skate... (doesn't mean I don't.. I do..) and it's still quite a lot of fun! (:
ReplyDeleteCute story and memory. :)
Wonderful story! I've never been able to skate (ice or roller). Maybe I should have had lessons. :)
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty terrible when it comes to skating (I'm as graceful as a pregnant hippo on stilts!)....but I love that your mum found those skates for you!
ReplyDeleteEvery year my mum buys a "special" present for my brother and I, just something random or silly that she has seen that made her think of us. I hope to carry on that tradition!
I loved, loved, loved roller skating. I can still remember the freedom of whizzing down the road or down the slope of somebody's drive and into the road. There were so many fewer cars back in the 70s. I never had boot-skates, always the metal ones that laced up at the toe. Happy memories. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post!
ReplyDeleteI often look back and wonder how my mom did it too. She always managed to get exactly what we wanted, even when we had nothing.