skate or die dude

 Let me tell you about the most amazing birthday gift I've ever received.  I know that's a bold statement, but no birthday gift has ever brought tears to my eyes before today.  In order to fully understand the significance of this gift, let's take a walk down memory lane.  Envision in your mind a 7-8 year old girl with brown hair in pig tales, blue eyes, and freckles all over her face.  If you are envisioning a mini punky brewster look alike, you are spot on.  She is standing at the skate shop ready to have her very first skate board custom made just the way she wants it.  Naturally, she chooses a hot pink board.  She has a break pad put on, railings, colorful wheels, and then comes the hardest part:  waiting a couple weeks for the board to be made.  Weeks later, she picks up the skateboard and thus marks the happiest day of her life so far.  That little girl is me.

I LOVED that skateboard.  My sister and I would ride ours everyday with our neighbor friends, Jeremy and Jeff.  I would ride down the tiny decline in the road and then kick up the front end of the board and slide on my railings down the curb.  It was the only trick I ever mastered.  My railings were blue, so I would always check the curb afterward to see how much of a stain I left.  After doing this hundreds of times over the next year, I'm pretty sure the curb in front of my childhood house probably still has a tint of blue stain.  I had left my mark.

One day I decided to be brave and go to a neighbor street where the decline of the street was much more significant than the one in front of my house.  I started at the very top and rode down.  Within seconds, my board was wobbling faster and faster as my speed picked up with every turn of the wheels.  The board flew out from under my feet and I skidded down the road on my butt, elbows, and back.  I got scraped up pretty bad.  Never attempted that hill again.

Also, my babysitter had 2 sons that were really into skate boarding.  They were older and much more skilled.  One summer, they started to make a ramp on the side walk in front of the house.  I would go out there every day and watch them skate off the ramp.  In my little girl mind, I was doing the tricks along side them, but in reality, I just sat there and pretended I was cool.

Life went on and I skated less.  Sports came into the picture full time, and the skate board got put away.  But never forgotten.  I went off to college and took my skate board with me.  My roommates and I would pull it out so we could sit on it and have someone push us down the side walk.  We would occasionally go to the skate park  and goof off.  One day, I thought I could handle going down a ramp. I don't know why....I had never attempted one before, and I was much more clumsy now than I was as a kid.  I stood at the top of the ramp and had my board hanging off.  I let the front wheels touch down and there was no turning back.  I was going much faster than I anticipated.  As soon as the ramp ended and pavement leveled out, my skateboard shot out from underneath me, and I was laying in that all to familiar place, on my back, butt, and elbows.  Not as many scratches this time, but I did sprain my wrist.  That took a while to heal.

I had now learned 2 lessons:  avoid steep heels and don't go off ramps.  My skateboard continued to travel with me through the years.  After college and after my mission, I moved to Provo.  The skateboard went with me.  It became the community skateboard for my very tight knit apartment complex.  Everyone would have fun on it.  I had one roommate in particular who was fond of it.  One summer, she moved out of my apartment and moved into a neighboring apartment.  Still in the same complex and a part of the same tight knit community.  She took the skateboard with her, which I was fine with.  We all shared it.  Then, end of summer came.  This particular roommate moved out, but said she left the skateboard for me to reclaim.  I went to her apartment and couldn't find it.  I asked her roommate, who was the last still moving her stuff, and she said she threw it away.  She didn't know whose it was and thought it had just been left.  I began the 5 stages of loss.  First, denial.  I thought it could still be saved.  I ran to the dumpster in hopes that it was still in there.  That's right, I would have dumpster dived for it.  It was completely bare.  The garbage man had already come.  Second, anger.  How could someone throw away a skateboard??  It's not something small and insignificant like a hairbrush left behind!  Third, bargaining.  If I only I had gotten it back from my roommate before she moved.  Fourth, depression.  I felt a loss for a very long time!  Fifth, acceptance.  I would always remember that skateboard and the fun times had on it, but I moved on.

Fast forward to a couple months ago.  It had been 5 years since the tragic death of my hot pink skateboard.  I was having a conversation about skateboarding with one of my best friends and co-worker Lydia because her son loves skateboarding.  I told her the heart breaking story of my hot pink skateboard that got thrown away.  Little did I know, Lydia remembered my story.

Today is my birthday.  I show up to work and my desk is decorated!  I loved that my co-workers decorated it, but let's be honest, I can't work under those conditions, so I'm sitting there cleaning it up when Lydia peaks her head around the corner and hands me a card.  I start to open it as she places a huge tissue paper wrapped present on my desk.  The shape immediately gives it away that it's a skateboard.  Knowing her son loves skateboarding, and he and I have had many conversations about it, I thought it was an ordinary skateboard.  As I open it, I see the hot pink shining through.  My eyes immediately fill up with tears and I'm overwhelmed with how thoughtful this gift is.  To make it even more special, Lydia hand painted the word "pumpkin" on the backside.  That's her nickname for me.  She then explains to me the adventure she went through to have it made.  Apparently, hot pink is not a commonly made skateboard, so she had it custom altered.  I've been telling everyone today about the hot pink skateboard that has come back into my life.  There are many  more memories to be had, with hopefully less injuries.  Thanks Lydia for the most thoughtful and unique birthday gift I've ever received!