Roller Skates

Yesterday it rained cats and dogs. The kids were home for the MLK holiday and what to do? What else? The roller rink. I've been there, blogged that as you might say so I didn't come prepared with my camera, but my friend Kristine did and took all these shots with her iphone (I gotta get me one of those some day) She is a mom, artist, photographer, friend who is very talented. If you want to see her work look here.

I roller skate. I do. I did when I was little: I had a few pair of white lace up skates with metal wheels. I would skate around the neighborhood until the wheels were dented and so worn they took the shape of an octagon. Good times. So when I enter the rink, I feel confident. I can slip those babies on and lace them up and up I go towards the rink and pray no one jets in front of me because as confident as I may look up on them, I really don't know how to stop. It takes a little while to get the hang of it, but give me a few laps around the rink and then I start to feel comfortable, like riding a bike but instead of two wheels you have eight.

Although I skated as a little girl, I didn't do it in a rink. I did go every now and then for a party or a special occasion, but not often like some have, so I didn't get into the whole roller disco thing as some did. I mean I love the music and the dancing, I am just not good at it, although I would like to be. You know what I am talking about, the funky tunes are playing on the PA system and skaters effortlessly glide and dance on the floor as if they hover over it. This is a little of what I am talking about:
I watch these funky phenoms skate around the rink and admire their grace and fluidity. I can't help but smile as they glide past me like water in a stream, rippling and rolling to the music, totally in their element. Do you know what I am talking about? I mean, appreciating something that someone does, a unique expression of themselves, a celebration really. I Love it. It totally made me happy, well that and the exercise. I need the exercise to deal with stresses of life. I am confident that in life, if we want to be truly happy, we need to find what out what we need to express. What gifts do we have to offer that are so uniquely ours. That is our journey, to find those and express them with love and all that good energy to bless the lives of those around us. We have to explore and experience and get ourselves out there because each of us is a unique gift one to another.

I guess my job as a mom is to provide as many opportunities for my kids to find that love,that gift that they need to express so that they might experience true joy. And to love them along the journey so that they might have the confidence to keep going even when they stumble and fall. Not an easy task, but so important.

Well if my kids didn't figure out if roller disco is their thing, they get another chance tonight because I am taking them with the free passes they got from last monday. Thats another thing a parent does--takes advantage of those freebies that are worthy of our time.

I happened upon this video that reminds me of my youth and the kind of skating that i did when I was young. enjoy.