The Quest (for Tube Skates)

I've begun to see signs around town inviting young girls and women to come out and join a ringette team.  The sport reminds me of my youth.  Constantly being drug to rinks where my sister would be playing ringette.  I never enjoyed watching her, but her playing, afforded me some trips to different parts of the country, as her team would be invited to participate in tournaments.  The first (and only) NHL hockey game was the Edmonton Oilers versus the Hartford Whalers, waay back when Hartford still had their franchise.  I attended said NHL game, with my dad, who had escorted my sister and her team to a tournament in Edmonton, Alberta.  I don't remember anything about that weekend, except us two cheering for Hartford amidst a sea of Oiler fans.

My sister got involved with the game of Ringette in it's inaugural season.  The Ringette Association had come to our school and put on a demonstration, inviting all the young girls to come out and join a team.  My sister was so excited when she came home, ringette information in hand.  We didn't have a lot of money, when we were kids, but my parents managed to scrounge up the money for the necessary expenses.  The one item that I am reminded of the most, were my sister's pair of skates.

Probably the characteristic I adore most about my mom is her naivete.  There's an innocence about it.  She may knowingly be making a mistake, but she does it anyway.  Sometimes it can be annoying, but usually it's an endearing trait and a cause for a good chuckle.

In addition to all the equipment my sister was required to have before stepping out on the ice for the first time, my sister needed ice skates. Traditionally, at the time, girls skates consisted mainly of figure skates, with the jagged toe.  For safety reasons (obviously) figure skates were not allowed.  I remember being drug along on the adventure of driving all over town, searching for a pair of girls tube skates in my sisters size.  High and low, this way and that way, my mom followed lead after lead to find these skates for my sister.  Then finally, just before my mom was going to surrender to defeat, she found a pair.  They were perfect.  The right kind.  The right size.  Everything.  They even had faux fur around the top of the skate.  My sister was over the moon with joy, proud of her new skates and excited to begin a new adventure.

Fast forward to when she shows up to join her new team in learning the art of the new game, RINGETTE.  My sister is so proud of her new skates, she pulls them out and almost puts them on display for all the revel in her skates.  To her surprise, all the other girls had regular "boys" black tube skates.  I don't know how that revelation affected her young psyche, but she played that entire first season with those white tube skates with the faux fur around the top.  We didn't have a lot of money, so she had to keep them until she grew out of them.

My mom could have ended her shopping day early, by simply buying the boys black skates and everything would have been fine, but she chose not to look outside the box, instead dragging her reluctant son and anxious daughter around town looking for a white elephant, of sorts.