Reunion

On July 6, 2009, Tim and I skated together for the last time two days before my first hip surgery. Today, almost 9 months to the day later, we had our first reunion.

He has only skated a couple of times since then, and obviously I am not at my best. I have only skated solo until today, and was a little hesitant to subject anyone to my bad balance and lack of edge quality. I told him not to have high expectations, and mine were low as well.

But interestingly, when I'm holding on to Tim, I am able to do far more than I can alone. We started out just doing hand in hand stroking and moved on to a Dutch Waltz and Cha Cha. We did a Ten-Fox and I was thrilled that I could do a decent three turn and mohawk (things I can't do if I am not holding on to him). We then did part of a European Waltz, with 4 three turns in a row on my left (weaker) leg.

When the Viennese Waltz came on I was resting by the wall, and when Tim wanted to try it I figured he was joking. This is the competition dance we practiced for a year and it's good to know all that practice time still has some positive effect a year and a half later. The dance was slow, the edges were shallow and the pattern was small, but it felt comfortable. We did two more patterns just for fun.

I know that I could not do any part of the Viennese without holding on to my partner, but it's good to know how much confidence I have just holding on to his hand. We're still a team, and there is still nobody I'd rather skate with.