Breaking Through my Barrier: I Went Skiing!
It had only been 4 years since I last skied, but it seemed like a lifetime ago. I last went skiing with my family in New Mexico in 2009. It was beautiful snow and weather and we had a fun day. Since then I have had so many issues walking that I was sure I would never ski again. I had a couple of bad falls and then I had something happen that made walking difficult. It seems to be a corn allergy that gives me MS like symptoms if I eat it. Last year we started taking our children to Ellicottville, NY to see our friends. Our friends bought a cottage there and their daughter is close to our boys’ age. They all run around the hills in the snow, watch movies, and play hard. They have a great time together. We were there a couple of times last year–the boys and my husband snowboarded and skied two days over the winter. Each time I would stay behind and carry the boots back to the car and wish I could ski, too. I vowed to ski again. I set a goal to ski one time this winter. We made plans for 2 weekends with our friends in 2013. I found a program at Holiday Valley that is an adaptive ski program. It is called the Lounsbury Adaptive Ski Program. A way for people with “challenges” to ski. It is a 2 hour lesson and it includes lift ticket and rentals for $40. A person like me would be paired with an instructor and helped to ski. I contacted them and was so excited that I could book with them. I told them about my challenges with walking and they said, “we have sliders if you need them.” There seemed to be no excuse for me. But I was tired in January and didn’t get the session booked. I felt too busy and tired and decided to wait. I think my trepidation got...
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