Dorothy Hamill Dreams Dashed

Like every other little girl in 1976 I wanted to be Dorothy Hamill. Unfortunately, the closest I ever got to being women’s figure skating Olympic champion was this haircut. I begged for lessons and tried to convince my mom that my dance costumes could do double duty on the ice.

There were just a few problems with my plan. There weren’t many rinks in NC and it rarely snowed more than 2 inches. Simply, NC was not a haven for winter sport athletes. After all, why would you want to be a figure skater when you could be a little league cheerleader?

I was confident. Despite the fact that I had never been on skates, I knew I was a skating prodigy waiting to be break loose. After all, I could pull my head through my legs and do Cirque-Solie things with my body.

Well, we all know how this story ended. I didn’t become Olympic Figure Skating Champion. My six year old ambition wasn’t enough.  I moved on, and yes made the cheerleading squad on my first try. Yeah, for me. I learned to yell loud and wave poms poms on cue. I guess yelling out loud was my gift.