All Skate!

That line in Garden State...you know the one? Where he says, "you feel homesick for a place that doesn't exist"? It came to me full force yesterday, when an article about a place I called home for many many years, is disappearing.

Please allow me to get a little melodramatic.

Strangely, I have no pictures from this time in my life to share with you. I'm not sure why either, but best not to look into that too much. However, this place was my life for a very long time when I was growing up. It was my first job at 13 and then at various other times through my teenage years. It taught me a lot in the puberty department too since I had my first boyfriends, my first make-out sessions, and my first (and only) lesbian experience all within its four walls.

I remember freaking out when I wasn't allowed to go or I got grounded. Come on mom! All my friends are there!?!?! And though I've now got the metabolism of a 26-year old instead of a 13-year old, I'd still finish off a bowl of nachos and cheese without worrying about my thighs....oh how I long for that tasty dish.

The best part is I met great friends there too, some I'm still friends with, even the owner and his family. I heard music for the first time that I never knew I loved or needed until I heard it rebound off that endless wood floor. Every night it was like having a soundtrack to your life while little dramas happened on wheels. I became a Patsy Cline fan while working Sunday afternoon skates, I fell in love with breakdancing beats after a couple Saturdays and I can't listen to the "Hokey Pokey" without cringing, nostalgically of course.

I suppose I'm getting sappy, but it was an important time for me. I distinctly remember being so excited at 4 a.m. when "Comfortably Numb" would come on and the back doors would open so the sunrise could be seen by all the all-nighters. Awww...I hate that no one else can experience that in that way now.

It was also a place where we were allowed to film the zombie movie we made last summer, with no hestiation from it's owner. The same lovely man that hired me when I was 13 even though I had absolutely no experience.

The last session will be on April 30th. I'm extremely sad that they have to let it go. I hope the last song they play is fitting, and knowing the people involved, I'm sure it will be.