Sometimes I think about something that happened in my life and feel so lucky to have remembered it. Our lives are made up of millions of memories that make up who we are and what we believe in.
Spending some time at the rink lately, I was telling a fellow coach of mine how I used to have to be on the ice for figures at 6 a.m. Figures are the old ‘figure 8′s’ of figure skating, with no music, just you, your edges and your tracings. You had to wear a different pair of skates that had the toe pick shaved off, and then go switch skates for freeskate.
Well my memory of this started around 5:30 when my mom would wake me up and the house was freezing cold, as the fire had gone out during the night and having been re-lit, still needed time to heat up. When I walked down the stairs half asleep, Mom would have already been up hurriedly getting ready and making me some breakfast. The cutest part of all was that she would turn on the oven, open the door, and lay my skating clothes on the door of the oven to warm them up for a few minutes before I woke up. I would strip off my jammies and slip into warm tights, dress and matching sweater then run to the car and put my skates on during the drive to the rink.
What a champ. Not only had she been up early to pick out my clothes and make my breakfast, but she warmed them up in the oven! It’s little things like that, that set my mom apart from the others. She’s the best.
Another great memory from my days of doing figures was when I was very young and must’ve been thirsty. I always wondered what it was like to lick the ice, because let’s face it…it looks like a huge popsicle. I needed to do it discreetly as to not draw attention to myself. Getting a good look at your 3-turns and tracings was a usual practice so I got down nice and low and pretended to be taking a closer look. I think quickly slipped my tongue across the ice and got a mouthful of icy water. It was great. But I was quickly busted by my coach who skated over and told me never to do that again or my tongue would get stuck and I’d be stuck there forever. You’ve gotta love the curiosity (and stupidity) of kids!
