The reason this blog is named “Frozen Moments” is because: a) I love the word Moments, b) I totally believe that, as our lives are made up of a finite number of moments, we should try to notice and appreciate as many of them as possible.
However, my intent with this blog was to try to produce interesting stories with beautiful photos as I explore and learn about this beautiful area I moved to when I left Burnt Hills a little over two years ago. But life gets in the way. Between my day job and some subcontract work that I do from home at night, and all that I try to do with the Saratoga Lions, my time is pretty tight and it is very difficult to do the research and spend the time writing an intelligent, informative blog post.
I hope to adjust my crazy life to be able to do just that in the future but, in the meantime, I do have lots of photos to share (I’ve always got my camera with me!!), and when a random story or “moment” presents itself to me, I will share it here, along with area photos which may or may not even correlate to the story I am telling. It’s all part of the fun, so bear with me.
That being said, I have a beautiful story to tell. On Saturdays from January through March, the Saratoga Lions sponsor an ice skating program called, “Saratoga Adaptive Ice Skating Stars,” which provides skating lessons, encouragement and fun to children and young adults with various developmental challenges. It is far and away my favorite time of my week. I love being there. I love knowing these wonderful skaters and I love being their photographer in an effort to provide their parents with some decent on-the-ice photos of their children. The smiles of accomplishment and delight are too special not to be recorded.
The skaters range in age from the very young through young adulthood. An on-ice aide is provided to every skater who needs or wants one, as are walkers, skates and helmets as necessary. Most of the younger skaters are in love with my camera, as are many of the teens, flashing me huge grins as they whiz by or even stopping to pose. But some of them are uncomfortable being photographed and I can sense that, and I try to respect it.
One young woman, in particular, is adamant about NOT having her photo taken. Every time she circles past me on the ice, she puts her hands over her face and reminds me, “DON’T TAKE MY PICTURE!!” I really don’t want to be a distraction to anyone on skates and I am very careful not to ever have my camera pointed in her direction. Now she just laughs as she passes me and says, “Don’t do it!” because she trusts me. I adore her.
Yesterday, she came to a stop by the team bench where I was standing taking my photos. She reminded me once again not to take her picture. I assured her once again that I would not. I just told her, “When you are ready to have your picture taken, let me know and that’s when we will get a beautiful shot of you. And I will let you see it before I show anyone else. How’s that?” She agreed, and said she really doesn’t like how she looks in photos. I honestly couldn’t understand that because she is lovely!
I said, “But you are so pretty, why do you not like how you look? I think you are beautiful…you’re a beautiful woman and, more importantly, you are beautiful on the inside. You should be proud of yourself.” Then I stroked her cheek and said something about her beautiful skin.
Next thing I knew, she impulsively threw her arms around me in the biggest, warmest, most intoxicatingly wonderful hug I have ever been wrapped up in. I returned it with equal enthusiasm. She whispered in my ear, “well now you’re just making me cry.” I pulled back, looked her in the eye and said, “Don’t cry, just always remember that you are a really special woman.” She hugged me again, agreed to let me take her photo soon and made me promise to pose with her. And, of course, I will. And, if she allows me, I will share it here or on the Facebook page. The entire encounter took no more than a couple of minutes but it made my day. My week. My month!
So that’s my wonderful moment at a wonderful program with the most wonderful young woman. THESE are the moments I wait for and these are the moments that make my life so special. I am so lucky and so grateful to know these incredible skaters and their families and so proud to be a part of such a great group of committed and passionate volunteers.
(We are having our annual ice show on March 26 at 2pm at the Weibel Avenue rink if anyone is interested.)