Footprints on the Moon

I just posted the following on someone else’s blog comments and then I decided that I probably should share it with you. Bonnie D.Stroir from San Diego Derby Dolls asked about people’s magical how roller derby and I met stories… I don’t know that it’s a magical story, but roller derby and me… we could totally send out personalized note cards together. Anyways. Here’s what I wrote:

I don’t remember exactly when roller derby first came onto my radar, but I know that for the last few years I’ve been seeing glimpses of it here and there. I think every chubby girl has that one thing that they’ve promised themselves for when they get thin. Roller derby was that thing for me. If I ever lost the weight, I was going to find a roller derby team.

The funny thing is, I started Weight Watchers in April and only 9 pounds later, roller derby found me. I didn’t know it at the time, but at the roller rink across town, a group of girls was starting to meet that would eventually form our league. I found out about it when my one of my cousins joined. I hemmed and hawed for about a week… I wasn’t sure if I was cut out for it… I wasn’t thin yet, after all, and that was the deal I had with myself. But I knew that if I didn’t jump in on the ground floor and allow myself to learn with everyone else, I might not ever do it. And who says you have to wait until you’re thin for your life to start anyway?

So I joined, and 6 months later, I’ve lost 40 more pounds and I’m still skating. And it’s been amazing. It brought 40 amazing women into my life at a time when one of my oldest friendships was crashing and burning. It made me realize I am capable of more than I ever thought I was. I’m happier than I’ve been in a really long time, maybe ever.

So there wasn’t ever one magical moment that got me started in roller derby, but it’s been pretty magical ever since.