Skating on Ice

Photo by Susan M.

Last week I went ice skating with the young men and women from our ward.  I hadn't been for 11 or 12 years, and my first couple of trips around the rink made my legs so tired that I was afraid three times around would be my limit!  Fortunately, my skating skills came back to me, and being a bit more relaxed made it more exhilarating than exhausting.

I was really impressed with the young women. Some bravely tried something that was hard for them.  Some spent the majority of their time helping those who didn't have much, if any, skating experience. The helpers were kind, patient, and they didn't fall down!  When someone did fall down, everyone was generally nice, and tried to be helpful.

I was so afraid me helping would result in falling that I tried to be encouraging instead.  Still, I was pretty proud of how well I was doing.  Pride goes before the fall!  Sure enough, I caught the tip of my skate on the ice and was face down before I had much of a chance to react.  Ouch!  I hopped up as quickly as possible so that hopefully nobody would see me, and so that nobody would trip on me.  I have a couple of bruises, but I still thought the skating was worth it.  It was fun to speed around, skating on ice, trying to keep up with Jake who got to come too.  Maybe I'll go again without waiting another 11 or 12 years!