When Children were Children
Growing in the face of danger
By Sharon Hopper 

Wow! It is winter once more and everyone seems to be shut up in the house. Doing what? I remember where I grew up we had winter. Snow and Ice. Not man made ice but real ice on a pond that could by any stretch be a bit dangerous. In order for us to enjoy the ice a few parents would go on the ice first to “check it” for us kids. After the all clear was given those with skates would proceed to do their thing. Sometimes that meant a hockey game with any stick they could find to move around any flat rock they could muster. We rarely had the real hockey equipment. Those of us who did not have skates would slide around the ice and by all accounts probably caused a lot of trouble to those trying to skate. 

I never considered us poor, but evidently we were not rich because I was told that we could not get ice skates for me because I would just outgrow them before they had been worn too many times. 

One Sunday we went to see my grandmother on my dad’s side of the family. He had 3 brothers so my dad got the idea that there might be a pair of old Ice skates in the attic. So up the three flights of stairs to the treasure we went. Trunks of treasure. Low and behold my father found an old pair of skates that looked about right for me. He asked me to try them on and even though they were a bit out of size, I said they were perfect. I cannot remember if they were too small or too big. 

When we returned home I anxiously went to the frozen pond where a bonfire was burning and kids were skating and proudly announced I had ice skates. I put them on and I was in for a shock. It was hard to stand up on those things. After several tries I managed to go about five feet. I remember going home with sore ankles but happy. After several days of trying my best to skate I decided that watching was a better sport for me. But I never told my parents that I had failed and one evening after work they came to see my progress. 

Now I had a real problem. To my surprise my dad told me that he never could stand on those bladed things and my mother put her arms around me and said not to worry. The other kids just seemed to ignore us. Then something wonderful happened. One of the kids I went to school with came over and took my hand and said “Let’s get you on your feet,” To my surprise in just a few minutes I was really skating in my old black skates. Everyone laughed and clapped for me and of course I took a bow. That was a great childhood memory. And our parents did not get arrested for child endangerment. They just let us play on the frozen pond. I often wonder why I never see children skating on the ponds in the parks. I guess I know the answer. Child endangering. Too bad because children often grow in the face of danger and become strong adults.