When I was around 9 I had a harsh telling off from my mom. I say harsh but that's more how it felt back then, it clearly wasn't a huge milestone in my life or I'd have remembered the conversation word for word. It was probably something minor like 'your rooms a mess' or 'you're back late where have you been?', but that day I felt a rage I had never felt before and decided I was leaving and never coming back! So what do you take when your a child leaving home with no intention of coming back? A backpack full of chocolate and biscuits, a compass, Devil bangers, my favourite he -man figures and last but not least the one thing I couldn't be without, my neon green Ghostbusters skateboard. As I walked away with my backpack on and my board supported nicely between my back and backpack I felt pretty cool not to mention adamant I would stick with my decision.
I called on my two best friends Paul Kenny and Kelly Valentie (no idea whatever happened to them pair) and we headed to our tree house (which was more just a tree that we climbed up that me and Paul had cleverly propped a really big piece of guttering we found on, which stuck out of the side of the tree so that we could wee down it (it's what boys do). Clearly Kelly wanted no part in our urine extraction plans (a true lady).
The relevance of the story isn't the argument or the tree house and it definitely Isn't the homemade toilet, the story is about the skateboard. My lifeline, in my head it was my way of getting further away from home, faster. For a 9year old it opened up my world much the same as getting my driving licence. Seth loves all my stories from my past and most nights as I am tucking him in he asks me to tell him one. My skateboard pops up more times than I can mention between the ages of 8-11 and Seth has been desperate to get in on some four wheeled adventures.
After having a chat with the genuinely great guys over at Native Skate Store they aggree'd to send out two Tricks Skateboards for myself and Seth to begin our adventures and for me to relive my wonder years. Seth looked so excited when he saw them, they are great boards and for a starter board for Seth they are awesome. Nativeskatestore.co.uk have a great selection of boards and accessories and since finding them i have come up with another great idea for a future post over the summer, which i'm really looking forward to.
Some people may say that with Seth's muscle condition skateboarding would be a little irresponsible but if these people were to say this to Seth he would tell you about the 'blind skater'. i had no idea who he was talking about until i Googled it and found Tommy Carroll, it's great to know that these are the sort of videos they show the children in school for sports relief, proving in many cases there's no need to limit yourself, anything is possible...
Its good for Seth to have a goal and we will always embrace whatever he is aiming towards. Since Seth has been talking about skateboarding he has always said he wants me to skate with him (hence the second board), its going to be a lot of fun and another great way for me and Seth to bond. Although Laura goes in to over protective mommy mode sometimes with the boys, we both feel that we shouldn't hold Seth back. He's no different to most children his age, he wants to adventure and who are we to stop him? He will always have one of us right next to him so there's no cause for concern.
Because of Seth's operation we'd not had a chance to get out on the boards until today and Seth was itching to get out. The fear of split stitches was far more important though. I'll be honest he really surprised me how well he balanced on the board and although he needs me standing next to him for support he did a great job. I really loved the chuffed look he had on his face 'ive got a skateboard and i feel cool' and rightly so he looked awesome.
I'm fortunate to know some great skaters and even got chatting to a woman at Opeie's dance class recently who used to be sponsored and is making a new video at the moment. I think this is just the start of our posts about skateboarding and thanks to Native Skate Store Seth is feeling confident and excited. This should be a great summer for us boys and our new hobby and hopefully I can help Seth create adventure stories of his own to pass down the generations.
1 comment:
Sounds like Seth is doing really well. He really does look great in that skateboarding gear.
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