Meeting Dorothy

I will never forget the day I met Dorothy Hamill.

When I came home from school one day when I was 6 years old, my mom excitedly made me sit down and watch this young girl in a red dress skating at the Olympics.  She spun and jumped.  She could do anything!  Best of all, she squinted too see her marks after she skated - she was near sighted, just like me!

Right then, I knew I wanted to be Dorothy Hamill when I grew up.

This was beginning of my love affair and obsession with figure skating. Mom and I bonded every winter over nationals, worlds, and, of course, over the Olympics every four years.  I even got to take figure skating lessons for a while.  But after a while, figure skating was put aside for other activities.  Even watching it on TV lost it's appeal once I moved away from home and couldn't watch it with Mom any more. 


One night in 2007, though, the magic came back.  I was home sick from work, tired but unable to fall asleep, so I wound up watching a reality show about figure skaters preparing for nationals.  An angel named Alyssa Czizny glided gracefully around the ice. "When you're on the ice, you're free,"  she said.

Memories flooded my mind . . . the cold air racing by my ears . . . feeling like I was flying when I jumped on the ice . . . Tears ran down my cheeks.  I woke my husband up, sobbing, and asked if I could take skating lessons.

It's been three years since I started skating again.  I took my my Adult Pre-Bronze Moves in the Field and Freeskate tests.  I've competed in two competitions.  I realized that I hated my job and quit, trading it to work at a retail store for half the pay and flexible hours while I decide what career path to pursue.

The other day, my mother-in-law asked me, "So what do you want to be when you grow up?"

The answer was simple:  "Dorothy Hamill."