Today (December 9) in 1884, the US Patent Office issued Levant Richardson a patent for his invention of ball-bearing roller skates. (This made skates much, much faster.)
About a century later, I asked for, and joyfully received, a pair for my 13th birthday.
I don’t know why, but they’ve become the symbol of “home” for me. I moved out of my parent’s house when I went away to college and got my own apartment. Little by little, all that was mine migrated from my parent’s house to my apartment…
…except the skates.
When my parents decided to sell the house I grew up in, they brought me the skates.
And when they moved into their new house, I found a closet there to stash them in.
They moved again, and we repeated the process. When Mom found the skates that time, she threatened to throw them out if I didn’t come get them. I explained to her that as long as they were at her house, that it was as though the house were mine, too. It felt a little more like coming home, than visiting in my parent’s new house when I came to see them.
I’m not sure she gets it.
The fact is: the skates aren’t the issue, it’s what they represent. I could have fixated on anything to be my little slice of home at the new house.
I’ve got a lot of fond memories associated with those skates, including the ones which have nothing to do with skating (that is, the little squabble with my folks over where they should live.)
Do you have any fond skate memories? What about something else that might symbolize home?
Here’s Your Prompt
- Write about skates: roller skates, ice skates, in-line skates. If you have no memories, make something up.
Did you ever wish for skates? Do you have a scene in a book which includes skates? Write that character’s back story related to the skates.
- Write a story about something that symbolizes “home” to you. You could write fact, fiction, memoir, or poetry. Be specific. Include descriptions of how you feel, or what you think, when you encounter these things.
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