Shoes You This Day: Guest Post

I invited my best friend from Kansas City, Lacey, to contribute a Shoes You post.

If any of you have had a past few days like I have, then this may put our little lives in perspective.

Another reason why I love this post is because of all the memories I have with Lacey at the same ice rink!

There aren’t many joys that compare to the simple joys of spending time with loved ones, even if you don’t see eye to eye regularly. Somehow your eyes can align on one rudimentary task or goal: trying not to fall on your behinds or break a leg on the glassy ice of an ice rink. It may resemble a calm lake, but the only semblance it may mirror is, invariably, cement upon contact with ze derriere.

I took my father’s hand as we glided across the recently watered ice with holiday music wafting through the crisp autumn air. Children secured themselves tightly to their parents’ hands or the skid marked up wall for better support.  I could see in my father’s face the look of intense concentration not to lose his footing before I made the mistake of asking him a question that distracted him from his ice skating zone. Wobble, wobble, arms began to jerk--one could slowly see what might happen next, but for once, I was my father’s support. I grabbed his arm tightly and stood solid as a rock until he regained his balance. We lightened the air by laughing at how graceful we must have looked, and began sliding over the ice once more. Sometimes we need a loved one to catch us from falling on the ice and sometimes we need to be the support that does the catching.