Throwback to the Teen Years

So last night I went rollerskating with my friend Lita. It was the first time in nearly 25 years that I was at a rink. I was 19 years old when my skating days ended. I had left my skates and the brown leather case my little brother saved his money to buy me for Christmas in the backseat of my 1969 Ford Mustang. I had left them in there while on a roadtrip with my college cheerleading squad. I had a feeling the whole time I was gone that someone was going to steal them and my intuition was right. After that I had quit skating but up to that point, I had skated for 15 years and my entire teen years were spent every weekend at the roller rink.

I have such fond memories of that place, the people who hung out there and the music that was played. "Blinded by the Light"...the lights would be turned off except the big disco ball that hung from the middle of the roof and which threw tiny little diamonds of light across the floor. I had dance routines to "Let it Whip" by the Dazz Band and "Flamethrower" by J. Geils Band. "867-5309/Jenny" by Tommy Tutone drove me batty and when it would come on I'd leave the floor to get a Mr. Pibb.

It was at the rink that I learned all the lyrics to "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang. And of course who could forget the skating standards like "Double Dutch Bus" and "You Dropped a Bomb on Me" by the Gap Band.

They played "Double Dutch Bus" last night and Lita and I just smiled at each other, picked up speed, moved our hips and enjoyed the wind in our hair.

The photograph was taken in 1982 and the drawing I did in 1980.