Inline—The First Time

It was a bright, sunshiny Saturday afternoon when my rollerblading coach, Brenda, and I met at the school park for my first lesson. We gave our 7-year-olds a game of ladder ball to set up and play in the grass while we changed into our inline skates on the nice, flat parking lot—the perfect place for a first attempt, Brenda assured me.

I had borrowed a pair of rollerblades and wrist guards from my friend Jen and was ready to hit the pavement—literally. Now, I may have mentioned I’m athletically challenged. Having experienced my lack of grace and coordination over the course of many years, a few close friends call me “The Flailer.” (I love them anyway.) So I was prepared for my share of spills and even planned to photograph the resulting scrapes.

Brenda, who has become a friend through encounters in our in sons’ second-grade classroom, Cub Scout Pack meetings and soccer team practices, hasn’t seen me in action. But she knows I have never been on rollerblades and haven’t roller-skated since I was in middle school.

Perhaps that knowledge made her especially patient and encouraging. (She’s also working with me on a more difficult endeavor, but I’m not going to share that until I actually manage to do it. Trust me, if I do, you will be jealous!)

She didn’t laugh at my first wobbly attempts to move forward or when I unintentionally started to roll backwards and couldn’t stop. She’s a great cheerleader, too. At one point, I made a turn but it wasn’t sharp enough. I couldn’t stop and rolled off the parking lot into the grass and sort of ran several steps in my skates. It wasn’t a graceful stop—yes, there was flailing—but I got myself back on track.

Brenda’s response: “So what if you went into the grass? You didn’t fall and you recovered…good job!” She gave me more positive reinforcement and compliments in the short time we spent together than I would normally receive in a year!

I probably surprised myself the most when I didn’t fall or injure myself during my first lesson. Even better, I had a lot of fun! This might be something I’d like to do more frequently. Brenda offered to rollerblade with me again. And my friend Mary has promised to join me, too. I think I’ll try it a few more times—and see how I weather my first few falls—before I decide if I’ll buy my own inline skates. But this “new thing” could become a regular thing for me, and that would be a good thing.