Ice Skating

A few weeks ago the fam spent a fun MLK day at the Eccles Ice Arena. I forgot how much I love ice skating until I got back on the ice. When I was younger we had some favorite family friends that we would go ice skating with every single Fri. in the winter months. The mom of that family had been a competitive ice skater in her younger years and we were now benefiting from her talents. (As well as being able to wear her old skates!) We would have 4 Garner children, and 4 Coleman children all piled into the back of a fabulous red station wagon and we'd head "over the vi-a-doc" to the Colosseum. During the warmer months the Colosseum was where all sorts of livestock auctions occurred. It was a dirty place, on the other side of the tracks, but we treasured these Fri. excursions.

We actually got pretty good. We could all spin without travelling, and I even learned to do a single toe loop. I loved seeing how far down the rink I could skate with one leg stretched out back just like Dorothy Hamil. The year I was 11, the National Championships of ice skating were held in Salt Lake City. Our ice skating instructor/favorite friend's mom had snagged our families tickets. So off to the Salt Palace we went. It was a school night too if you can imagine. I think we got home about 1am. It was the best night. It lasted for hours, but staying to the bitter end sure paid off. The skaters got better and better as the night progressed, and finally we were to some names we were familiar with. The last skater of the night was this short little man in a blue zuit suit with racing stripes down the side. It was Scott Hamilton!! He was amazing and fabulous, and wonderful. That was the night that we saw him perform his famous back flip on skates. Of course he won the competition, and all 8 of us kids were the loudest cheering section anyone could ask for.

A few weeks later we were able to watch him again on TV as he won the gold medal at he Olympic in Sarajevo. Watching ice skating to me has always been one of my favorite things. I will always remember feeling like I got to personally witness a little history. Scott Hamilton is still amazing, Sarajevo doesn't even exist anymore, the Colosseum has since burned to the ground, and now I'm a mom to four kids. Life moves on but there's a whole new round of ice skating to watch in the upcoming weeks. I hope someone will love watching it as much as I do. Actually I know there will be. Emma loves it too:)