It’s been a long time since I’ve been skating, but this was my nephew’s seventh birthday and he wanted to skate, so I would at least give it a try. When I was a kid I used to skate all the time with my friends and I remember that I used to fly around the rink and in my mind it was almost as if nothing existed except for me, my friends, and the music. I wondered what it would be like to be on the rink again after all these years. I was excited but at the same I was a little nervous about it.

I walked into the skating rink and it was a lot like the rink I remembered from my childhood. It even had that smell that was a bit musty with the sweet smells of the concession stand and just a hint of the spray they use to disinfect the skates when you turn them in. When faced with the thought of actually putting on the skates I hesitated a bit; what if I fell? What if I got hurt? What if I slammed myself into the wall?

I waited for my best friend Dave and his family to show up before I got my skates, mostly because he encouraged me to get them. My friend Dave is six feet six inches tall without skates so with skates on he’s like seven feet tall.

“you better not fall” I told him, “because if you do, you might squish three or four kids.”

He looked down at me, laughed and sarcastically repeated, “you might squish three or four kids hahaha. You’re a funny man.”

I laced up my skates and realized that I wasn’t ready for skating. “I don’t think I can stand up on these.”

“Just stand up.:” My friend encouraged.

I stood up and things were going good. I rolled walked on the carpet and made my way to the wooden rink. As soon as I stepped onto the wooden planks my legs started going wild. It was kind of the dance the scarecrow does in the Wizard of Oz and if I only had half a brain I wouldn’t be out there trying to relive my childhood.

“you got to let go of the wall” Dave said as he skated backwards trying to get me to skate.

“I don’t want to let go of the wall. The wall is my friend.”

“You can’t skate if you don’t let go of the wall.”

I tried to push myself, letting go of the short wall for a little bit thinking that by magic I might just start skating like most of the others at the rink. As I passed a girl that was leaning against the wall watching her friends skate she said, “you have more balls than I do for trying to do that.”

I looked at her and said the first thing that came to my mind. “I certainly hope I do.”

She laughed. When I realized what I said, I laughed too. My friend, Dave continued to encourage me. “Let go of the wall.”

I decided he was right and if I wanted to skate I would have to let go of the wall, so I did. I let go of the wall and started skating toward him like a giant five feet ten inch baby taking his first steps as his dad held out his hands, excited at his son’s first stumbling steps. I was skating when all of a sudden my other friend Tamika and her daughter Jessica came skating behind me. Jessica reached out toward me and yelled, “you’re going to fall!”

My arms started pin wheeling as I stumbled toward my friend who caught me like a little kid before I hit the floor. I had him in a bear hug as my legs were sliding every which way under me. I finally got my balance and made my way back to the wall. I always knew that Jessica hated me and this just proved it. She always looked at me with those “I hate Tony” eyes.” Above everything: the kids laughter, the load music, and the sound of thousands of wheels rolling over the wooden floor I could hear Jessica’s evil laugh as she watched me almost fall ”Wahahahahahaha: and then she skated away.

I grabbed the wall and continued my journey around the rink. It wasn’t long after that when my Dave’s wife came up to me and said, “they need you at the birthday table right away.” I was halfway around the rink, still holding on to the wall, and taking little baby roller-skating steps; I wasn’t going anywhere right away.

“Come on,” my friend Dave said.

“huh?” I looked at him with that same confused look that I have when I talk to my cousin Jason who graduated from MIT and is a doctor now. “what?”

“Grab hold of my shoulders and I’ll lead you there.” Now, that’s what I call I friend, someone who does not care how goofy he looks leading another grown man through a crowded skating rink

I felt a bit dumb being led around the rink by a big, muscular 6’6 foot white guy with a military hair cut. It’s different when you’re the leader and when you’re the one being led. I looked around hoping this wouldn’t somehow end up on Youtube. I held on tight as Dave’s shoulders as he skated around the rink faster than I thought anyone could skate with another person holding on to them.

I arrived at the party table and was greeted by our “party hostess,” a young girl who had introduced herself at the beginning of the party, but whose name I had already forgotten. She said, “we’ll be bringing out the pizza shortly if you want to gather the kids.”

I thought to myself, “this is why they needed me right away?” “Ok,” I answered.

We gathered the kids and as they were eating pizza I decided that I was going to go out on the rink and conquer my fears - I was going to skate even if it killed me. I knew that the first thing I had to do was lose my fear of falling or whatever fear I had, so I decided that I would psyche myself out by telling myself that I had no fear.

I stepped out on the rink

No fear.

I steadied myself and let go of the wall.

No fear.

I started to roll slowly at first.

No fear. No fear

I was skating!

No fear

I started to skate faster.

No fear

I went faster and faster until everything just looked like a blur and then I went even faster.

No fear. No fear. NO FEAR!!!!

And then without warning, I hit the wall and then fell backward on to the floor - the fear was back and it kicked my ass.