Grab your rollerskates girls and press play on this mood-setter.

Now that we have background music, let’s head down memory lane.

Do you remember when rollerskating was popular? The 70s? A portion of the 90s? When I was in 7th or 8th grade, a few friends of mine, driven by a parent, would pile into the car and trek 30 miles to the nearest skating rink to roll around and around in the same direction for an hour or two. Man, those were the days. Skating with your girls to Meatloaf ballads? I would give anything (eh, eh?) to do that again; but I won’t do that.

The old armory was the place to be on those Friday and Saturday nights. Flirt with the boys and skate with your girls. The memories were so strong today that I pulled out my sweet find from Goodwill, a decades-old pair of rollerskates with no insoles, and brought them to our barn. I was looking forward to it. It’s been snowy and cold (really in winter in Minnesota? Guffaw) and the chilly, but large-spaced barn was calling my name.

Now, the barn isn’t the best place to skate but it would have to do. The upstairs area is mostly wide open with only nine or so giant posts taking up space and patio furniture is stacked up near the walls. The floor is plywood and isn’t even, the unevenness increases the complexity of staying upright, but it’ll work for a thirty-minute sesh.

My daughter grabbed her JoJo Siwa skates and together we were off. I cranked up a 90s channel on my big-ass radio and prayed for some Meatloaf to serenade me and my skates. It didn’t happen. Meatloaf didn’t come on but Sheryl Crow did and I felt nearly like my old 7th-grade self.

I tried to stay in tradition by going one way only, but there were a few obstacles left by my children that forced me to change direction, and quickly. Those same obstacles that I so deftly maneuvered caused my daughter to fall several times, but with some encouragement and “Girls don’t cry!”, (kidding, I scraped up some compassion from my nearly empty bucket) she was up and rolling again.

Around the thirty-minute mark, my dogs were barking and needed release. It was time to put the skates away and don my boots again. As I closed up the barn, I flipped the switch on memory lane.

If you are ever in the area, bring your skates and we can open ‘er back up again. This time I’ll bring my Meatloaf CD.