My daughters very first steps were on the backyard pond. It was an incredibly cold and windy day on Christmas 2021. It was not a happy Christmas, it was very quiet, sad and overshadowed by a family tragedy actually. The snow had covered everything with a thick layer of calm, and snowdrifts swept across the road and hiking trails around of the house.
The ice rinks were all closed at the time, either due to the holidays or because of the pandemic restrictions in 2021… We were all sitting inside with long faces, and then someone suddenly remembered that we had a pond in the garden. – Now my daughter Flauschi couldn’t be stopped. We all had to go outside, help her put on those skates she had just unpacked under the Christmas tree, and then make our first very weird sliding attempts on that frozen puddle. I still remember this bitter-sweet moment so well. It was like a forbidden break from the silence.
I think there’s no need to further describe how excited Flauschi was. The picture says it all. She also insisted on putting on the “Wooly”, her wool overall that she loves so much. (Turns out, those jumpsuits are fine to do sports in and run around, but for icy cold winter days it’s not the best choice…)
Somehow, in that moment, I sensed but didn’t know, what was still to come. After six months of my child nagging me to finally buy her some ice skates, I had given up and decided to get her ice skates for Christmas. She was so happy about it. And I was so sceptical…
In the end, Flauschi didn’t want to hold hands anymore; she just wanted to stand on the ice and chill, smiling. It’s funny how quickly some things happen. Or how a small gift can trigger an avalanche of developments you didn’t plan, like our whole figure skating journey… yeah. Who would’ve guessed?
Sure, I used to go ice skating as a kid. Every winter, actually. It was somehow part of the cold season. Lakes all over Germany would freeze and plenty of kids would skate around on them. But it was never really a sport to me, let alone a discipline. It was for leisure. It was just “winter culture”. Nothing you had to try to be good at or better than others. Like eating ice cream or going for a little bike ride. You just did it whenever you felt like it. It’s crazy how in less than a year, our perception of ice skating would completely change. Sometimes, I still can’t wrap my head around it.
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