Last March our youngest was introduced to the sport of curling, of which I knew (and kind of still know) nothing about.  Friends of hers had been playing a couple of years already, and at the end of each seasons their club holds and open house where anyone new and unfamiliar is welcome to come and try the sport for a couple of hours – no pressure, no experience and no expectations.  Given Audrey’s proclivity for trying all things new, it wasn’t a real decision of if we should jump on the opportunity or not.  The fact that I initially took her to the wrong arena in the wrong city aside, it was a successful and exciting experience – one in which the volunteers had to finally shut off the lights and ask us to leave the ice because they were having so much fun.  Suffice to say the experience led to an immediate request of “Daddy can I please sign up to play next year?!?!  please??????”  Who am I to say no?!

Now, every Sunday at 1:00, she proudly suits up and marches onto the sheet with her friends to learn and practice another of her passions.  Between tap, acro, curling, climbing, soccer, skiing, track and field, and so many more, I’m impressed and amazed at how comfortable and natural she is with not only trying new experiences, but sticking with them and not complaining when the time comes to ‘turn off the TV because we need to go to -insert activity name here.  There are certain extra curricular she may not enjoy as much as others, but she – on her own accord, mind you – has accepted that if she signed up to do it then she’s going to see it through, even if it’s only for a single season.  She gets her energy not just from being active, trying new things and being outgoing, but from being amongst others.  It is clear that she enjoys the presence of people and that drives her to want to explore the various spaces in which like minded individuals can be found.  Not to project or that I have expectations, but I can already see her wearing her valedictorian stole. Hmmm, I wonder who she takes after….

Fast forward a few weeks into the season and we find ourselves at the Christmas break – a couple of weeks of r and r, and of course plenty of excitement for the big day.  As Alison and I pondered over what gifts to get the kids, we discovered that the Ontario Curling Championships were coming to Elmira in January, and if there’s a gift we like more than any other, it’s one of experience.  Gifting or opening tickets, passes, or an invitation to, well just about anywhere, is a gift that really does check a lot of boxes for us.  It’s not only something you get to open right away, it’s one that represents yet another thing to look forward to.  It’s personal because the experience tends to represent and recognize something you’re passionate about, but then it’s also inclusive because – at least within our immediate family – it represents  time together.  So with the stars aligning, on Christmas morning we handed Audrey and envelope with four passes, and she immediately marked the calendar and started counting down the days.

This weekend, of course, marked the official day for us to trade in those tickets for the experience, and while it may not have been met with all the pomp and circumstance of travelling into Toronto for a game (something I am not complaining about) it was no less exciting to be heading to something that was meaningful for our daughter and new to all of us.

Now, I’ll have to admit that, even though she has been playing this sport for a couple of months, and I’ve attended a fair number of these outings, I still understand very little about the sport or how it all works.  I can grasp the basics, but still find myself getting tripped up on the nomenclature and scoring system.  I swear I pay attention, it just wasn’t fully sinking in for whatever reason.  As such, on the car ride in Audrey was kind enough to share her knowledge with the family and bring us up to speed on all that we were about to experience.  To say that she was proud is an understatement.

Being a younger sibling, I can tell you from experience, can often lead to feelings of living in a shadow.  The older always gets to experience things first, tends to know more and has simply lived just that much longer.  It’s not their fault and it’s not through any malicious act, it’s just the way things go.  So when a younger child gets the opportunity to not only educate her older sister but also her parents?!  That’s a recipe for something that doesn’t come along very often.

Over the three hours that followed, our family was able to enjoy something together, something new, something close to home, something Canadian and something that, weeks later, was able to rekindle the sentiments of Christmas morning.  I was impressed at the skill involved, something I am admittedly took for granted having never really watched the sport, and I concluded it’s something I frankly don’t ‘have the core or triceps to attempt.  In fact, I am quite confident that after only a few minutes on the sheet I would have a broken nose and a few missing teeth – I’ll leave it to those with better knees and balance.

Upon leaving the rink, full of popcorn and hot chocolate, Audrey turned to Alison and I, grabbed hold of our hands and said, and I quote “This is the happiest Christmas present.  Thank you”.

It wasn’t the Lego, the dolls, the games or the toys.  It was this – an even that transpired three weeks after Santa came, at an area in Elmira, Ontario.  That is what brought her more joy than anything else. Melt.  My. Heart.