Thursday, February 20, 2014

Olympic Thoughts

I love to watch the figure skaters. My Olympic faves. I sit there, of an evening, and float across the ice with them from my recliner. I think of how it might be if I could suddenly inhabit their lithe, young, bodies and defy reason and gravity in an attempt to achieve gold. Sometimes, the next morning, I wake up with sympathy pains in my ankles and look around for that cool outfit I wore for the performance. Okay, not really, but you kind of get where I’m going with this, right?

Sure you do. Where I’m going is – I have never been, nor will I ever be, an Olympic quality athlete. Nope, I was one of those girls who stood in the outfield and prayed. Not to win, silly. No, I prayed the ball wouldn’t come to me. What if it hit me in the face or slammed into my chest (which was flat enough already)? Those of us who eventually became perfect breeders realize that protecting the species by not getting banged up on the courts and fields of dreams were answering to a higher calling. And I have three sons and six extraordinary grandchildren that bears this idea out.

With this in mind, you might be surprised to learn that I met the love of my life while ice skating. I’d left work one night and invited one of my sisters and a brother to go with me to the local rink. You see, I had a brief, insane, few weeks when I thought I could conquer the ice. Little did I know that a former speed skater and his friend would also be there. I was too busy trying to stay upright to notice. Then, as I sat catching my breath, I heard a voice. It belonged to a blue eyed blond who had leaned down to ask me to skate. I. Was. Stunned. But I said “yes” and believe me, I was happy to be whirled around that rink in the company of someone who knew what he was doing (besides admiring my blue sweater). It was an historic moment.

I’m very glad there are young people dedicated enough to a sport that they make a mark in the world. They climb Olympus and give it their all. They are beautiful, nervous, quirky, inspiring and I cheer them along. And sometimes, when I dare to imagine what that must be like, a blue eyed blond pops into mind and makes me happy to be right where I am; safe in my recliner knowing that there was another, better, path for someone like me.

How about you? What do your musings about the Olympics bring to mind?



Image: digitalart                                                Free Digital Photos 

8 comments:

  1. Jennifer Brown BanksFebruary 20, 2014 at 7:50 AM

    This is an olympic post; how lovely. I'm a huge fan of figure skating too. I remember the first time I saw Rudy Galindo skate; I cried. :-)
    Thanks for sharing this.

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    1. Glad you enjoyed, Jen. I hope you are wintering well!

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  2. I enjoy figure skating as well. Adding to what Jen says above, I remember the first time I saw Rudy Galindo skate too. I felt like other skaters skated and tried to make it look like dancing, while Rudy danced majestically and just happened to have skates on his feet. His fluidity and control were stunning.

    BTW, like you, I met my husband while trying to master a sport. I met my husband on a volleyball court. I was not very good at the sport that I had not played since high school, while he had not stopped playing it since high school and was the hands-down best in the league. He asked me out about two weeks after the league commenced. Another interesting tidbit: we went ice skating on our first date. :-D

    Anyway, enjoy the rest of the Olympics. Thanks for sharing this. Be well.

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    1. I love "how we met" stories. Thanks for sharing yours, Janette. Let's see how our American hockey team does. Nail biting time!

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  3. Like you, I was never quite Olympic material. I always wanted to get better at sports, but ended up being more one praying in the outfield too. Loved hearing how you and your husband met. Very romantic! :)

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    1. Aww. Thanks, Karen. It was romantic - still is. Have a super week.

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  4. Karen's right. It's a very romantic story! I'd say you could practice your couples figure skating right there on the kitchen floor. In tube socks. It's not too late; so what if you'll never be an Olympian. :)

    (And I say, whatever figure you've got, you can skate it around anyway.) LOL.

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    1. I used to have a "figure" that looked pretty good on the ice. Now it looks pretty good from the neck up. =0) Thanks for stopping by, Rhonda.

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