Frozen Teardrop by Lucinda Ruh Read Free Book Online

over to this long-mysterious and forever-daunting frozen plane. I surely made my laps in utter concentration upon body and ice with occasional curiosity about my mother’s thoughts and the thoughts of the older skaters whose ranks I had now joined.
    I was but a speck upon the ice and I probably made little impact on the lives or even the day of the other skaters at the rink. It was, however, a major event for me — not because of unforeseen victories and accolades to come, but because I had crossed over from one world to another. I had accomplished the transition from spectator to ice performer, at least in my mind, and though many falls and decades of training lay ahead of me, I was no longer just a little girl watching through fogged windows. I was now an active participant in this strange frozen world and perhaps one step closer to earning my sister’s admiration.
    As always I am certain I was dressed like a doll — and surely not much taller than one — since my mother always dressed me in beautiful one-of-a-kind embroidered smock dresses with bows, headbands, and braids in my hair. My mother was majestic and elegant and she dressed her children the same way. No one else dressed like us and other kids were visibly envious of how we were presented. It was both how we were dressed and how my mother and father taught us to wear our clothes. It was not necessarily the brands we wore, but the way we carried ourselves.
    To this day I am meticulous about my appearance and how I present myself, and I have my parents to eternally thank for their noble ways. How little I knew about this world I had entered and how innocently I celebrated this quietly monumental beginning. I had no idea how very much of my life would be spent on ice and how significant the toll would be on my family and me.
    It is important to note in these early, formative years that despite their inclination toward spoiling us lavishly as if no other world existed beyond the borders of our own family’s love and happiness, my parents did, very sternly, teach and show my sister and me the basic and most important aspects of manners, etiquette, and ambition. They always said we were to be champions in life and champions in our souls. It mattered not what we did, but how we did it. They always insisted on us taking responsibility for our actions. We were taught to always respect our elders and never to speak back in any way. We were afforded luxuries and nannies and maids, but we were, without question, always brought back down to earth and in no way allowed to demonstrate any spoiled behavior. We were taught the basics of right and wrong and we were prepared for life in the outside world, however imbalanced that world would turn out to be.
    My mother and father strived diligently throughout our childhood years and well beyond to provide my sister and me with all the things young girls could possibly want and need. We were spoiled in many respects. Yet we knew we had to walk a fine line to keep the privileges coming, since my mother was very strict and my father expected great accomplishments from us. Although the struggles of circumstance would sometimes blind us to how privileged we actually were, we always knew in our hearts and minds that our parents loved us and sought only the best for us.
    Beginning in these early years my mother and father taught me, as they would exemplify throughout my life, that honesty, honor, heartfelt love, and respect were the ideals to live by. They taught me from their hearts and souls that the only way to understand their masterful teachings was through the lives we were to lead. I was always grateful to my parents and my head would forever be bowed in their presence. I would take these values to heart. I would make for myself a prison of body and mind to have my sole intention be to make the best of myself both on and off the ice. In the process I prayed I would make my parents proud and earn their