On Christmas Eve it was a tradition for my mother, sister and I to go to the Chinese food restaurant and order Egg Foo Young then off to Rockefeller Center Rink to ice skate. We did this every year from 8 years old to 18.
It was always crowded there, and we had to rent lockers to put our shoes and other belongings. We rented skates whenever we went there and brought two pairs of our own socks because we needed our ankles to be stiff in the skates. This made sure we did not break a bone if we twisted our ankle while skating. The skates were mostly uncomfortable and smelly with worn down blades and broken laces. I wondered with each pair of skates who was the last sweaty, smelly person who wore these crumpled up ice skates.
The year when I was 12, I wrote Santa a note and asked for new ice skates. I loved ice skating. Round and round and falling down and laughing and hanging on to my sister and mother as we wobbled and clung to the handrail.
There were many seasoned skaters there. They would twirl, glide and flow and coast as if the blades of their skates had wings. I wanted so dearly to skate in that fashion.
Upon arriving home, we were off to sleep, too tired to be excited about Santa.
The next morning, we went to the Christmas tree still sleepy and started opening our presents. There was a big box waiting for me, I couldn’t imagine what it was. I ripped off the blue snowflake paper and found a box that looked like a shoe box, only bigger.
Gently I pried the top open and there they were. Brand new ice skates with white and pink rabbit fur pom poms. I put them on and they fit perfectly, the blades were shiny silver and sharp. I was ready to skate again.
I bothered my mother so much to go back to Rockefeller Center Rink that she relented and off we went again so I could skate with brand new ice skates and brand-new socks and my pink and white pom poms.
And that was the greatest Christmas gift I ever got.
Georgia
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