We all watched
Alyssa Liu at the Winter Olympics. I could hear all of us collectively holding
our breath as she skated free as a bird in the wind with her swirling
gold-glittered dress. She appeared to be ethereal as she literally floated with
joy as she skated across the ice. I loved it. I loved her. I loved the joy she
brought to herself, to her talent and to the Olympics for all the world to see.
I have always
been enamored by ice skaters. When I was a little girl, I fell in love with
Carol Heiss. She won the gold medal in 1960 at the Olympic games in Squaw
Valley, California. She won the silver medal in 1956 in Italy but won the World
Championship that same year. Following that win, her mother became ill and
asked Carol to win the gold medal for her at the next Olympics. And she did.
She was ranked first by all nine judges.
I don’t know
how I became so aware of her or so attached to her at a young age. I remember
ordering a scholastic book about her and finding it on my desk after recess one
day. It was a shiny new book with her picture on the cover. Sometimes new books
take my breath away. They are always an adventure to begin. I read it over and
over and over and was determined to become her. I had many goals as a kid, but
this was one of my biggest goals.
When I was ten
years old, we moved close to McMillen Park with the outdoor skating rink. It
was my lucky year as it was my Uncle Norman who owned the rink. It was
spectacular for me as I was new to the school and didn’t have any friends yet,
so I invited all the girls to skate with me. I told them my Uncle Norman was
rich and would pay our way. And he did. Night after night. After walking
through the snow in our old boots, we met Uncle Norman outside the rink as he
took money for the after-school skate. We just took off our mittens and let him
stamp our hands…no money exchanged. Once we changed out of those winter boots
and laced up our skates, we were free as a bird. It was magical taking to the
ice. I loved skating. I thought I was good even though I had to wear long
leggings and my grandpa’s big coat. I could spin and twirl and skate backwards.
I knew the Olympics were in my own future.
That year we
skated every night except the nights it warmed up and the week I had the flu.
Walking home each night we once again walked through the snow. We made snow
angels and admired the beauty of the new snow. When the moon shone, the snow
held magic as if was full of glistening diamonds. I bragged about my skating.
When I am rich and famous as a skater, I will wear diamonds on all my fingers,
I said to the girls. They nodded.
Finally, we
went home. Home to meatloaf and mashed potatoes. I wiped the blades clean
before hanging up my skates on the back hook. I always knew another skate was
waiting for me at the rink. That was the only year I skated every night. It
wasn’t really that the dream diminished, it was that life was full of other
adventures. I still skated, but not with that intensity. I still wanted to be
famous though!
As I watched Alyssa
skate last week, I felt it all come back to me. I felt the wind on my face. I
felt the thrill of lacing up those skates. I felt the Zen moments of just
leaving everything behind and skating for joy, pure joy. It also brought back
all those feelings I had for the lovely Carol Heiss.
Hearty
congratulations to Alyssa for bringing joy and beauty to ice skating.
Of course I
didn’t grow up to be a skater. Jonah did though. He is a fine hockey player and
a blur on the ice. I love that he keeps this tradition going.
As for my Uncle
Norman, I found out later he wasn’t my uncle after all. No, he was just a
family friend who worked at the rink as a second job. But every night, when I
was ten, he paid for me and all my friends.
No comments:
Post a Comment