It all seemed so innocent at the beginning. My mom thinks that the day during a Christmas family gathering that she put my daughter on the ice, with just her tiny gym shoes and her two older cousins holding her up, was a day that shaped her future. My daughter got “slid” around the ice on her shoes, and at just 2 years old, didn’t want to get off. She made an entire lap of the rink with her cousins and seemed to be having the time of her life.
Move forward two years. She was 4 years old, filled with tons of energy. My husband and I were always on the lookout for activities that would help her burn some of it off. And one fated day in October, we drove past an ice rink and saw a sign that said Introductory Skating Lessons. Six weeks. At some nice and low price. Yep, that was the hook. “That sounds fun” we said. The rest is history. Well, at least my family’s history.
And so it began. We signed the kids up and two weeks later we were at the rink once a week. My son started hockey and my daughter started figure skating. One liked it, the other not so much. Hockey was not in our lives very long. But figure skating became a constant in our house.
Fast forward about six months. She went to weekly lessons and practice ice to be able to master the skills at each learn to skate level and get her completion patch. One day we were at the rink for open practice ice and what do we see? A small group of kids skating together as a team, making lines and circles. They called it precision skating, whatever that was. Now I’m a color guard person, so for those that know that space, when I say it was winter guard on ice, you will get it. For those that don’t, it was like watching a marching band making shapes – only on the ice and with skates. It was the local ISI beginner team. We went over to watch, and the coach asked if she might want to get on the ice with the kids. She could barely skate forward at this point, but sure, she was game. The kids were all older than her but were friendly. They showed her where to go in the shapes and held her up so she didn’t fall. When the coach asked if she wanted to come back next week – of course her answer was yes. And she became the alternate to a beginner team.
Had I had any idea what was ahead, I just might have run for the hills. But I’m glad I had no clue. I wouldn’t change a minute of it all. Ok, that’s a lie. Maybe some minutes here and there. But those years have all added up to some pretty amazing experiences.
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