I Thought I Could Rollerskate

When I was a kid, I loved rollerskating. I could skate really fast and go in any direction - forward and backwards, up and down and even in circles. I loved being able to move fast on my feet so when my daughter was invited to a rollerskating party and the parents were told they could skate too, I couldn’t wait to strap on a pair of skates again and show off my skills. As I was confidently making my way across the carpeted floor, I glanced back and smiled at my husband and my daughter who were watching me with anticipation. I could tell they thought I had lost my mind and they were praying I didn’t get hurt but I couldn't understand why they were being so negative. In my mind, I was still the best rollerskater ever.

As soon as both of my skates hit the wood floor, my feet went up in the air and I went down on my back. I started laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face. At that moment, one of the young kids who worked there skated over to me and said, “Ma'am, are you OK?” That made me laugh and cry even harder because he called me "Ma'am." I tried to shoo him away with my hands because I was a bumbling mess at that point; I couldn't get up and I couldn't get the words out to tell him that I was OK. Then, my husband came over with an amused and yet slightly worried look on his face and helped me up and took me back over to the table. My daughter said, “Mom, are you OK?” Once she saw I was in one piece and still laughing at myself, she and my husband started laughing with me and tried to re-tell the story from their perspective now that I had been humbled from my rollerskating experience. Needless to say, I decided to take the skates off and just live in my memories. I was really good at rollerskating a long long time ago.