Ice Skating in Bobcaygeon, Ontario

Ice Skating in Bobcaygeon, Ontario …

I remember my sister and I going ice skating in Bobcaygeon, Ontario at my Grandpa and Grandma’s cottage. I think I would have been about 7 or 8 years old and my sister would have been about 5 years old. I remember the skates we both had were white figure skates and I remember the laces being so long that I tripped on them several times.

Grandpa was such a good man, no matter what it was he did. He was never selfish. He was always thinking of others and this particular time he was thinking of how he was going to make sure that ice was safe for his two disabled grand-daughters, my sister and myself. I remember him brushing the snow off the ice and making sure there were no big lumps in it. It was lake ice, after all, so he was very careful to make sure it was safe for us.

Grandpa would bring chairs out onto the ice so that my sister and I could hold onto them while we tried to learn to skate. Grandpa would whistle at us and encourage us to keep going after we had tripped a thousand times.

Neither my sister or I can skate today but we do remember Grandpa trying so hard and we appreciate his effort very much. For us, being on the ice was not really a lesson in learning how to skate. It was a lesson in not giving up. One thing my family has taught me over the years is that no matter what, you never give up. You fall down, pick yourself up and keep on going. I still live by that motto today.