Rodney Mullen Instagram – Of the most humbling honors skating has bestowed is being chosen to be someone’s Make-A-Wish. Of the dozen or so I’ve experienced—through various foundations—it’s always the same: During the days prior, I toss & turn at night, having no idea what to say to a dying child reaching out in his (almost assuredly) final days of life. I’ve just lived my life as a skater—nothing more. Which I’m terrified they will quickly find out, and then maybe end up worse-off than before. This is the first time it was for an adult; his name was David. By the time he’d gotten word that he only had a few months to live, it was too late to even bother with formal channels. Yet through his brother’s determination combined with more than one coincidence, we arranged to meet in a coffee shop on September 7th near(ish) his home in DC.
As his wife, Dee, wheeled David to our table, we caught sight of one another; a long minute later, we sat in silence with eyes glassed-over. Suddenly, he spoke with a grinning frustration: “Do you know how many hours I spent, working on kickflips?” This ignited a lightness, laughing at all the shinners and struggles of learning the same basic tricks. Which led to sharing the nuanced gifts of some of my peers (Hensley!) that makes them seemingly superhuman, while connecting to the funny quirks that makes them real and so truly Human. Then came streams of the perfectly mundane that eddied and flowed, as if sweeping us into a river of all the shared little peculiarities that connect us not just as skaters, but as people. | Posted on 08/Dec/2017 06:20:13
