Regaining Feelings Through Experiences Part 2

During spring 2002 I bought new inline skates, and was so excited to get out on the trails again. After getting new skates, I first practiced skating again at home. I started in my room, went through the hallway, and then into the kitchen. Several times I skated that path just to get the feeling of skating back again. My mom was home while I was skating around indoors, and to my surprise she did not say one word about me skating inside! I guess when a person almost dies it also changes the people they live with; at least a little bit.

My first time back out on the trails was scary and fun. As soon as I stood up after putting on the skates I almost lost balance a few times. I knew how to inline skate, knew how to move my legs, feet, and body, but it felt like it was the first time in my life inline skating. It was great already being a very good skater and skipping the learning stages.

As I went from the parking lot to the trail, I started to build up speed. Immediately I was experiencing feelings of freedom, exhilaration, and was bursting with happiness. A couple times I tripped on sticks/stones which threw me off balance, but I did not fall. Those experiences brought back feelings of being scared.

When almost done with the usual 5 1/2 mile route, I decided to head up towards the university to inline skate on the sidewalk. First I went uphill. Later, the downhill trip was not much fun. I was very scared of falling even though I mostly had my speed under control. The injured organs were still extremely sensitive, and I knew that a fall (especially forward) would cause a huge setback. Falling would have meant even more excruciating pain, if not another trip back to the hospital. Luckily I did not fall. And from that experience I knew to stay away from that long hill until after those organs had a few years of healing time.