Tuesday, March 29, 2016

I Miss my Roller Skates with a Key on a String


I did love my roller skates back in the day when roller skates had four metal wheels and a key. My new saddle oxfords were always scuffed from the clamps that fit around the toe. I learned to ride them inside our house, ruining the linoleum in the process. Then my parents moved to a house with a real sidewalk and the roller skates moved outside. My ankles were chafed from the leather strap that was buckled in the very last hole and my calves burned from riding as far from home as I possibly could and still see the chimney of our fireplace.
Young girl in Roller-skates, Bay St. Louis, Mi...
Young girl in Roller-skates, Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, 1921. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The skates would expand so I wore them for many years, even after a big big bike appeared for my seventh birthday. It had been ordered from the Sears Roebuck catalogue just like the skates. It seemed that wheels made my life bigger and finer. I think I was the only child on the block that owned either one.

Time passed, the skates were packed away and then in the 70's my own children wore them and we listened to Melanie Safka sing her classic song I've Got a Brand New Pair of Roller Skates.... 

The roller skates and that beautiful, wistful song became symbols of a woman's life for me. We could live alone and travel and be whole all alone but life was not the same without someone to love and share the adventure with. I am glad I chose to marry and have children.

Somehow, now that I am old, I yearn for my roller skates with the key that I kept on a shoelace. Maybe I could hang it around my neck and see the world through a child's eyes once again. It was a glorious freedom they brought to my life. To quote the Roller Skate song "I been all around the world. Some people say I done alright for a girl..."

I wish I could lay my hands on a pair of those skates...my granddaughter would probably love them as much as I did. I want her to know that she will do just fine even though she is a girl! Her brothers are a challenge for her.

Funny isn't it how we think about that kind of thing. I suppose that is why I go to Invaluable. They have collectibles up for auction on their website. I will need to check and see if their have my favorite pair of roller skates soon.

But I really don't ever want to go back...not ever. That is why it is good to write and talk about what once was so we can relive the adventure. Then we can buy a pair of roller blades and race on down the street.

Have a wonderful day.

b+

Published on Jul 16, 2013

I rode my bicycle past your window last night
I roller skated to your door at daylight
It almost seems like you're avoiding me
I'm OK alone but you've got something I need, well

Refrain:
I've got a brand new pair of roller skates
You've got a brand new key
I think that we should get together and
Try them on to see
I been lookin' around awhile
You got something for me
Oh, I got a brand new pair of roller skates
You got a brand new key

I ride my bike, I roller skate, don't drive no car
Don't go too fast, but I go pretty far
For somebody who don't drive, I been all around the world
Some people say I done all right for a girl

I asked your mother if you were at home
She said yes, but you weren't alone
Oh, sometimes I think that you're avoiding me
I'm OK alone but you got something I need, well

Refrain
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12 comments:

  1. Great post, I like this wistful song, she did have a crush on someone. I too had a pair of those skates, I haven't seen any like that in years. Is Melanie the singer who wrote "Look what they done to my song ma"? She is talented.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know about the other song. I had a friend tell me that they found a skate key among her mother's things recently. It is strange the things we hang onto and the things we let go. When she told about the key, I wondered if she and her sister regretted the absence of the skates. Knowing her, the mass of kept things was overwhelming and the skates never crossed her mind.

      Delete
  2. I remember my old roller skates, and the skinned knees. And I remember the song .... great tune!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My poor knees are still not right! But what fun it was.

      Delete
  3. I was telling my 9 yr. old granddaughter about my roller skates on a string last week! Oh how I loved them, and using that key periodically to tighten them as I zoomed around blocks and blocks in my neighborhood, every day during the summer, feeling free, like I was flying and never getting tired or running out of breath.
    Sandy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can feel the breeze in my hair! And I am smiling right now just thinking about it.

      Delete
  4. I could hear the song the minute I saw the title. I love this piece. The power of freedom that little girl felt, and how it lives in the woman you are today is gorgeously expressed here.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It's time to roller skates. Hihi. This song makes me special feeling. Remember my pair of roller skates

    ReplyDelete
  6. I can feel my passion of roller skates from this song.

    ReplyDelete

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