A High School writing assignment in 1999
When I'm 50
There are many things I would like to still own when I am 50. My boat, my turntables, my bike, the list is pretty much endless but there is one special thing that stands out in my mind. It is a drawing of me skiing that is hanging on my wall in my room. It stands out to me so much because there are so many memories in my mind whenever I look at it.
One of the memories is receiving the drawing from my grandma on one of my birthdays. I remember not having any idea what the big rectangular present would be. Then I opened it and saw a drawing from a photograph of me skiing. It looked just like the picture but even more detail and it was about twenty times the size of the little picture. It was amazing how my Grandma’s friend could just look at a little picture and enlarge it so much in her mind and have it come out on paper with the right movement of her hand. It was the best present I could of ever asked for.
Another memory that comes from looking at the picture is the actual race itself that the picture was taken at. It was the slalom race of the 1999 J3 Junior Olympics for alpine skiing. It was when I was in 8th grade, and it was my first year racing nationally. I never thought I would have a chance making it to the Junior Olympics my first year of ski racing. I remember starting at around 90th. There was so much running through my mind when I was in the starting gate. All I could do was clear my mind of everything and think about a good run. Halfway down the course, I caught an inside edge and flew out of the course. I felt so disappointed when it happened, but then I realized that very lucky to even make it there.
The main memory I still want to have when I look at the drawing when I’m 50 is how skiing was a huge part of my life. I want to remember my High school ski team winning state my freshman year. I want to remember going out to Buck Hill every night during the winter and running gates the whole time. I want to remember skiing a really good run in the qualifying race for Junior Olympics and ending up as the first alternate. I want to remember how much my dad was there for every trip to Lutsen, Marquette, and who knows how many trips out west each year.
There are many things I would like to still own when I am 50. The one thing by far that I would pick would be a drawing of me skiing hanging on my wall. Every time I glance at it, it makes so many different things run through my mind. I want to have the same things run through my mind when I’m 50 and glance at the same drawing.