Memories of my Youth: Realities of my Present
One of Sara's playmates had her 7th birthday party this weekend. This party was at an old-fashioned roller skating rink. The rink was closed to the public during "party time" and since we were the only party planned, our group of 15 kids and related adults had the place to ourselves.
Growing up, the family of a girl in my neighborhood owned the local skating rink - I think it was Skateland. Leslie was one of those long-term neighborhood kids that I went to school with from Kindergarten all the way through high school (I think there were 13 of us as measured at our 25 year HS reunion). Of course Leslie was a prize winning skater, but because we were all friends, outings to Skateland were regular. I was a pretty decent skater in those days.
On Saturday, all those memories came flooding back. The disco ball, the snack bar, skate rental, DJ music, and the illusion of cool. Missing was the teen angst, and raging puberty hormones - but I really didn't "miss" those.
So, on with the rental skates and out on the floor I go. After some initial trouble, I did get some of those feelings back, and gradually felt more comfortable out on the floor - bouncing to the rhythms of the music, crossing over on the turns, pinching the fannies of the girls (just ones I'm related to now).
Can you see what's coming next?
I think it was a 4.2 on the Richter Scale.
Coming off the skating floor on to the carpeted non-skating area gravity seemed to wake up at the comedic potential of a heavy, 44-year old with too much confidence. Suddenly my feet sped up, and my torso slowed down and I disappeared behind the wall.
If someone had been watching me, I can only imagine how funny it would have looked. Something like Wile E. Coyote falling off a cliff. There he is. And in an instant: There he isn't.
Thankfully, there was no serious damage - to me or the facility. Nobody saw me fall (either that or nobody laughed out loud to my face) so my pride is in tact. The swelling on my wrist has finally begun to go down and my back and neck are stiff, but workable. I suppose it was my ego that took the biggest hit - that and those fond memories of the skating rink.
Tags: Funny