There are so many things in this world that I would like to see or do before my time here is gone. One of them happens to be skateboarding. When I was a kid my mother wouldn’t allow me to have a skateboard. Roller skates and even roller blades were fine but a skateboard was out of the question. "Too dangerous," she claimed.

     So my exposure to the extreme sport of skateboarding was put on hiatus until the advent of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater video games. I lived vicariously through this medium, customizing my own character or playing as Bam Margera, my favorite skater. It looked like so much fun but I still never got my own skateboard. By this time I had graduated high school and moved in with my father in upstate New York. The oldest of his girlfriend's children had a skateboard and he tried showing me how to do it at one point but even with him and his sister holding onto my arms as I tried to balance on the board, I still somehow managed to fall off. So I decided perhaps it wasn't meant to be and focused on other interests.

     Life, however, has a funny way of coming full-circle. Last summer my fiancé bought a skateboard for his daughter because she expressed an interest. He used to skateboard in his younger days and subsequently bought himself a board so he would have something to do with his teenage daughter. Still, remembering my earlier experience with my siblings, I didn't consider getting on the thing.

     When the weather finally broke after the long, cold winter we just had here in New York, we were eager to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. So off we went, fiancé, his daughter and I, to the local park where I watched them on their skateboards. As I observed I began to grow envious, telling myself if my mother had allowed me to learn while I was still young and rubbery I'd be able to ride too. When they took a break and started kicking a soccer ball, I could no longer resist the temptation. I tentatively tried stepping on her board first—and was shocked when it didn't go flying out from under me!

     At this point, some of you may be thinking, aren't you a little old for that?  My response is to quote Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame. "I reject your reality and substitute my own." As far as I'm concerned, you're only as old as you feel. Telling yourself you can't just because of age is only an excuse to hold yourself back. I proudly admit to having a very childish mind at times and flippantly disregard what's "proper" in favor of my own amusement.

     So now I was on the board but the trouble was, I couldn't move anywhere. Trying to propel myself with one foot caused me to overbalance. My fiancé then showed me how to tick-tock, a maneuver where you push the back end of the board down so the front raises up and rock back and forth to create forward motion. This is not an easy feat. I then tried his board because the trucks are looser and accomplished slight motion, managing to raise the front of the board and walk it in circles without falling off. Still, I was proud of this accomplishment.

     By day two of this endeavor, I managed to figure out how to push myself forward with my foot and step onto the board without overbalancing and could move short distances and even pulled off a turn! I am still trying to master that tick-tock though. I will update this page further as progress continues.

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