Ice Skating

It's been a hard week. After 13 days straight. Getting up at 5am and pulling myself out of bed every morning as the rest of the household sleeps. One of those weeks I would rather forget. Lots of regret. Lots of worry. And certainly heartache.

And even on my day off it continued. A quick call to the ICU confirmed what I had feared all along. As the tension in my neck became unbearable the headache set in. My mood soured. My wife cautiously appraised me from the drivers seat as I became quiet. The kids argued in the backseat.

I had had enough. By 5pm I was ready to shut the world out. Close the doors and turn of the lights and call it a day. But there was a birthday party for my son and daughter. Of all things an ice skating party. And I didn't have the heart to stay home alone.

So we dragged the kids into the car. Put them in their car seats. Made our way to the skating rink.

My wife rented skates for herself and the kids, and I moped on the sidelines. As I walked into the observation area the cold air whipped across my face like a slap. It woke me up. It bayed me to come.

I walked hurriedly out the door and back to the check in area. I grabbed an old pair of beat up skates and raced to the rink. I laced up the skates with great clumsiness and inefficiency. Being that I had only skated once in the last twenty years I wasn't all that confident in my abilities.

I gingerly inched out on the ice and something amazing happened. My mind became totally engrossed in the activity. My neck muscles relaxed and my shoulders loosened. My legs moved rhythmically across the ice as my body swayed back and forth with each kick.

And I forgot. I forgot the horrendous sadness I had encountered last week. I forgot the sorrow and fatigue and stress. For a second I let go of the complexities of adulthood....of being a physician....and I was a child again. swirling through the air with ease and abandonment.


Free, simple, and in the moment.