A Roller Skating Flashback

I haven't thought about roller skating in ages.  I haven't actually roller skated in longer than that.  But one particular memory of roller skating flashed back to me recently which brought on many more memories. 

Skating is something I used to do growing up like everyone else of a certain generation.  Friday night at the roller rink was kinda the hot place to be.  I could skate but I wasn't an excellent skater.  I could go around the rink forward fairly fast and I could skate backwards a tad if I had to.  But I wasn't an "in-the-middle-of-the-rink" kind of skater.  You know those kids--the twirlers, the couples holding hands, the ones who lifted a foot to gracefully put it in front of the other foot.  And then there were those that could glide around the rink going backwards, spin and then go frontwards for awhile.  Show-offs!

Personally, I much preferred being on the perimeter of the rink.  Plus it made it easier to stop (by gliding toward the wall with outstretched arms and grabbing hold when I got close enough!)  Like I said, I wasn't an excellent skater and I definitely was relieved when skating was not the Friday night thing to do.  However, I think bowling may have taken its place.  Oh dear, those memories!!!

Skating was one thing, but bowling...Bowling was physically painful.  I know one could fall at skating and that would be painful, but this pain had nothing to do with falling but everything to do with continued discomfort while bowling.  It wasn't because of the form I had when I bowled or that I chose a ball that was too heavy.  The problem was that bowling alleys put the size of the shoe you rented on the backs of all the shoes.  So?  You may say.  And if you do say that, then you probably wear a size 7 shoe, or 8 max.  Not me, nope.  Couldn't be so lucky! 

The luck I hoped for in the bowling alley (besides not having a gutter bowl every time) was for no one to hear me when having to say what size shoe I needed.  Back then, everyone had small feet--now I just refer to them as having "baby feet."  The girls would all wear a size 6 or 7 or possibly an 8.  No one else, I mean NO ONE, wore a size 10!  (Okay, actually, I didn't either--I really needed an 11!)

So what does a tall, skinny young girl do in a situation like that?  Clearly the solution is to ask for a size 9, right?  That's still big in comparison to my friends but at least it was a single digit and maybe if I were really lucky the size 9 would be old and fuzzy and hard to read.  At that young age, I could endure the pain for the couple of hours of fun!

Another solution, of course, was that this same tall, skinny girl could have asked for a man's shoe and that would be in a smaller size.  Sure!  But the men's shoes were a different color.  (How embarrassing that would be--a different color of shoe and a big one at that.  You know how important appearances are to teens.  Glad I'm way over that!!! Almost)  So, nope. That didn't happen!

Now that I think about it, skating was much better than bowling.  At least the skates didn't have sizes on the back.  But in my flashback it didn't matter anyway.  This flashback occurred after spending some time with a really good college friend.   

This friend and I were very close and so alike...except that she was petite, beautiful, and confident;  plus, she could skate, sing, and probably bowl.  Not positive about the bowling part. 

But she did have the skating and singing to perfection and she was definitely beautiful.  I'm not being subjective about that.  After all, she was a contestant in a beauty pageant during those college days. And that is what this flashback is about.

Every beauty pageant has a talent section, right?  This one, of course, did too.  Carol chose as her talent a song to sing that Barbra Streisand sang in the movie, "Funny Girl."  If you remember in the movie Barbra skated while she sang the song, "I'd Rather Be Blue."  So, Carol chose to not only sing as her talent but also to skate while singing the song. 

I must say that I certainly wouldn't have chosen skating (or bowling) as my talent in a beauty contest.  Actually, I don't think I would have chosen singing either.  But who am I kidding?  I wasn't and never will be in a beauty pageant.

But my friend was and she was great!  I remember her practicing her song with her skates on in the dorm room and down the hall.  I wasn't much help in either category as far as giving advice on her singing or skating but I was good cheerleader for her...supporting her and telling her how good she was doing.  Of course, it was easy to do that.  Not only was she talented and beautiful, she was sweet, kind and a good friend.

I met Carol in my freshman year at Ouachita Baptist University.  She lived at the end of the hall.  We shared some classes, some study notes, some meals in the dining hall and some really good times together.  We went to each other's homes for some weekends and got to know each other's parents and families.

Her family lived in a small town in Arkansas and at that time my parents lived in Memphis.  What a wonderful experience to get a glimpse of life in a small town.  Country girl and city girl--but actually she was much more sophisticated than me.  It didn't matter; we were friends.

Our friendship has lasted over all these years but not in the way you think it will when you are in college.  At that point in your life, you can't imagine not staying in contact, not being available to share things frequently in each other's lives;  you just know that you will be best friends forever. 

But circumstances will change things; life styles and patterns change--time goes by, life goes by and suddenly one day you realize that you haven't seen or heard from this best friend in months, so on and so on. But the great memories and feelings about that person are still important to you.

This is what happened to an extent with Carol and me after college.  We would see each other occasionally, maybe in a store, at a community gathering, over lunch if we were lucky.  But it always was easy to step back into a closeness and we always were able to catch up somewhat on each other's lives. You have friends like that, I'm sure.

Luckily we connected again recently and I am so thrilled.  As it happens, we now live within 5-10 minutes of each other.  Before Christmas, she had an Open House Christmas party and she invited me.  I went and enjoyed visiting a bit with her (not enough but after all, she had her hostess duties!), seeing her lovely house, and meeting some of her friends.  It was also fascinating to see the mutual friends that were there.  Who knew?

Then the other day I ran into her at a restaurant.  We visited for just a few minutes but we did a great thing...we made a commitment and a specific date to get together again.  (That's what it takes--not just the stand-by "We've got to get together" comment.)  She came to my house for lunch the very next week as we planned.   It was a lunch full of reminiscing, laughing, and listening with our hearts.

A few days later, she dropped off some wonderful Warren-grown tomatoes at my house. Yum!  I feel like we are getting to really know each other (again) but this time as adults with life-long experiences that have affected us and "grown us" to where we are today--strong women who have a "joie de vivre," a great love and pride in our families, and a positive view of life, God, and spirituality.

I am grateful for knowing her;  I am better for knowing her.  She is a valued friend, a beautiful woman with a kind heart and a loving attitude.  She is lovable and I love her whether I see her weekly, monthly, or yearly.  Plus, she inspires me and loves me.  How lucky I am!

It may be that we even start seeing each other more frequently--every week or so or we just may still see each other on occasions.  I'm not sure, but I do know we will get together again; after all, there are more stories and memories to share such as the roller skating beauty pageant flashback (which we didn't even get to last time, but I'm sure she remembers it!)  There are more laughs to have, more discussions, and more memories to create.

Who knows...we may even meet next time at the skating rink!