I've still got my groove

Today I chaperoned Maddie's 7th grade end-of-year party at the skating rink. It was the consummate middle school social experience, complete with lots of awkward moments from "the sevvies". It was fun to see them gain in confidence and momentum as the party wore on and I'm continually impressed with the quality of kids at Maddie's school.

I was, however, unprepared for the flood of memories that came rushing back when I first walked in to the rink today. Bad memories: The sweaty foot smell, the nasty black carpets with squiggly neon designs, the truly horrible pizza, and the annoying DJ voice-overs. Good memories: the huge wooden floor, disco lights, watching awesome wipeouts and talented skaters/dancers, and the feeling of doing something really fun with my friends.

As 100+ middle schoolers circled the floor, I thought back through my roller skating history-- from learning to skate in our driveway on my white skates with noisy metal wheels, to birthday parties and field trips to the 49th Street Galleria, to college disco skating parties at Classic Skating. And then it all came to a screeching halt about 15 years ago.

The loud, beat-filled music wore on and I began to feel so old. I didn't recognize any of the songs, except the Old Faithful of all dance parties, "Forever Young". But even that had been remixed and pumped up. I idly wondered what it would be like to skate again, then wondered if I could still do it, then longed for an excuse to try it again. No adults were skating at this point, but as soon as I saw a few teachers and parents drift over to the skate rental counter, I made my move and snagged the very last pair of traditional skates in my size. I surprised myself and Maddie too. I'm no roller derby queen, but I can still go round and round.