Photo by Don Ford

Very nice!

Thanks for the thunbs up, Cheers, Don

Very different ~ I love this Don...

Thanks for sharing this with us in Artistic Therapy.

I was asked by an editor to come up with artwork that would depict a girl, Emily, who was a Special Olympics skater. I was asked to read the story and come up with art to fit it. I believe this will work. Cheers, Don

P.S. I may ask permission to be able to post this story along with this art to Gather friends here when it publishes soon.

Looking forward to it Don!

Glad you provided the skating clue. I was struggling to interpret this, but now it all falls in place.

Well done! :-)

I could actually spin off a dozen different stories from this picture. Most of my writing is inspired by something in a picture or some object in real life, Cheers, Don

Neat image.

Thanks Tory, Cheers, Don

nice

Thanks Diane, Cheers, Don

Very nice, Don.

Featured in the Triple Name Club.

Glad you liked it, Smiles Don

very nice

Smiles, Don

Neat effects - nice looking plaque as well - can imagine this in glass and mirror backdrop - thanks for sharing :-)

Thanks for submitting to
The Surreal Circus.

Thanks, that's a cool idea, Cheers, Don

Wonderful image & so fitting to the story!

Thanks for stopping by. Cheers, Don

thanks for sharing.

Welcome, Don

Cool! I have never seen read the story though.

It will come out shortly and I will see if they will let allow me to post it here. They have first one time rights to it. Cheers, Don

Awesome work! I look forward to the story.

Thanks Mark,

Imagine my surprise when the editor emailed me last night and decided my picture didn't fit the story. Keep in mind that I put good time into this art piece and that I did it out of the goodness of my heart for this Magazine (A Catholic one). Here is the story. Was my pic so far off, do you think?


JUST TRY IT!

I hate nagging! So when my best friend and skating partner, Jimmy, pestered me about becoming a coach for Special Olympics, I tuned him out.
“Just try it, Trish,” he begged for the zillionth time. “Emily seriously needs a coach. She’s only competing in Level 1.”
I couldn’t see myself spending my free time teaching someone figure skating stuff that I won medals for when I was 5.
“I’m too young to be a teacher,” I said as I unlaced my skates. “Besides, we need to practice our own pairs routine. The competition’s in three months.”
“It’s only for an hour before we meet for our practice,” Jimmy persisted, tossing his skates over his shoulder. “And middle school students can be volunteers!”
Jimmy bugged me every day at school the following week. He offered me a ride with his mom when he went to the rink to coach his Special Olympian, Rachel. She and Emily lived in the same group home. Finally his nagging wore me down, and on the next Saturday morning I went an hour early to watch him coach Rachel.
“Just to watch,” I reminded him.
A short girl in a red skirt skated toward us on wobbly legs. She stepped off the ice and threw her arms around me.
“You’re Trish,” she said. “Jimmy said you’re a skating star. I want to be a star too.”
Jimmy grinned. “This is Emily. Oh, there’s Rachel. Got to run!”
Off he skated toward another young girl who looked a lot like Emily, except she wore a blue skating skirt. I perched on a chair near the edge of the rink. Emily clambered back onto the ice, glided a few feet out, then turned and called, “Watch, Trish. I’ll show you how to do a swizzle.”
She completed a clumsy one, but her technique was all wrong.
“I’ll show you another way to do it,” I said, lacing my skates.
Before I knew it, I’d spent an hour with Emily. Her swizzle wasn’t perfect, but it was better. Jimmy and Rachel skated over to us.
“I got a coach!” Emily told Rachel.
Huh? Emily hugged me again.
“I love you, Trish. You’re the best coach in the world.”
And so I became a coach. That afternoon, Mom brought me to the Special Olympics office and I talked to the director. He gave me a book about volunteering and had me take an oath. I liked the way it started: “I promise to give the time in my life so that Special Olympics Athletes can have the time of their lives…”
Every Saturday, Jimmy and I met Rachel and Emily at the skating rink. They both did a fairly good job on basic stuff, and they sure had the time of their lives. Our victory chant became “Just try it!”
Emily had no fear. When she fell learning a new skill, she giggled and tried again. After their housemother picked them up, Jimmy and I would work on our routine. We practiced hard, but Emily was never far from my thoughts.
By the weekend of local Special Olympics tryouts, Emily had even learned one of the harder basic moves, the two-foot hop. Sitting on the sidelines, my stomach lurched when her name was announced. As she skated onto the ice, Emily paused and waved to Jimmy and me. I motioned for her to proceed to her opening position. She smiled, nodded and took center ice.
I held my breath as the opening notes of Emily’s music started. March forward, two foot glide, I whispered in beat to the music. Swizzle, wiggle, rock your horse. Forward, swizzle, two-foot hop… My eyes filled with happy tears as Emily completed every move without falling. She ended just a couple beats after the music stopped.
Jimmy and I stood and cheered. Emily took one bow after another. Then she skated over for a group hug.
“I tried it and I did it! I’m a star, right Trish?”
Jimmy and I beamed like proud parents when Emily, Rachel, and all the athletes who participated received medals.
On the weekend of our competition, my mom picked up the girls to come watch. I wanted gold! Jimmy was in top form, and so, I thought, was I. Then, tragedy! I fell during our side-by-side triple loops. I wanted to sit on that ice forever. Then I heard Emily’s voice. “Just try it, Trish!” I stood and finished the routine.
Jimmy and I didn’t place in the top three. But the pride in Emily’s eyes meant more to me than any medal.
“You just tried it, didn’t you, Trish?” she said as we celebrated over ice cream sundaes.
It was my turn to hug her. “I sure did, Emily. We both tried, and we’re both stars.”

Cheers, Don

Seems to fit to me.

Bummer!

Kinda makes me wonder why I'm putting so much work into FREEBIES. Ha Ha Don

Absolutely beautiful.Thanks Don.

I worked hard on this to get the effect I wanted for a story piece someone wrote, but alas it didn't work out. Alas, I thought it worked well, Boo Hoo. Cheers, Don

Nice!

Glad you liked it, Cheers,Don

This is being featured on 100 Views!

Very cool, thank you, Cheers, Don

You're welcome.

Yay! This photo has reached over 100 Views! Thanks for sharing.

Ah yes, now on to the next in our series of unusual pictures, LOL Cheers, Don

Very nice, thanks for sharing it!

Welcome, friend, Don

very nice

Glad you enjoyed it, Cheers, Don

nice picture

Thanks Mary, Cheers, D.

This photo has reached 50 views or 20 comments and, therefore, has been removed from Photo Street! Thanks for posting!

It really is time to take it down, Cheers, Don