Skiing

Last year, I got to take my nine-year-old skiing. He took to it like a fish to water. He had such a great time, that he wanted to share it with his siblings. We finally got a chance to take his brother and sister along a couple of weeks ago. The first day was tough. I struggled to teach two little ones the basics. When we reported to Dad about the day, I was about to throw in the towel, but the next day we hit the slopes again. After a few trips down with the five-year-old, I looked up to see the ten-year-old helping the eight-year-old down the mountain. They were holding hands and it was the most that the eight-year-old stayed up to that point. After lunch, the boys convinced me that they were ready for the big mountain. We loaded up on the four person chair lift and headed to the top. The first run down must have taken forty-five minutes. The next one took fifteen, and the five-year-old was stopping at intersections waiting for Mom and big brother and skiing through tunnels. The eight-year-old wants to be a ski instructor starting with teaching all of his friends so that they can come skiing with us. He is also making plans for his first triple black diamond run. The ten-year-old was skiing ahead of us and making runs down the little hill by himself. My five-year-old daughter wanted to ski with him the last run and make more runs on the little hill with him. Once I read a line attributed to Abraham Lincoln. It said, "This too shall pass." We never know what will happen if we just keep skiing. The darkest days come just before the bright return of the sun. There is reward if we keep going. The faces of each of my children reflected joy and confidence gained from facing a challenge thought too difficult, but overcome. What a gift to be able to give them! I hope that they will each remember that lesson and carry it over to other places in their lives.