Frozen Teardrop Read Online Free PDF Page A

They have no fear. They keep evolving. They remember and will always love the people and places of their past, but they never stop embracing the newness and wonder of the people and places they encounter today. They have always lived in the present. I believe I am wiser and richer for having lived in so many different places although I became fragmented and broken for the very same reason. Skating would become my refuge and spinning my doorway to the universe beyond all these burdens — leaving me one day to wonder how the madness in the beauty and the beauty in the madness engulfed my life and me.

2
Playground Beneath the Eiffel Tower
    (PARIS)
    The Eiffel Tower reaches boldly to the Heavens, while strongly rooted in the Earth just as we must aspire to do.
    A vivid and colorful imagination has always flowed freely within me. I like to believe the purest forms of love — love of life, love of learning and love for others — have always dwelt safely within me as well. It is ironic that I would one day be known for my physical dexterity and flair when I have always been quite introverted when circumstances allowed me to be. Quiet solitude remains to this day a very inviting and comfortable place for me. As a child I would escape from reality by letting my mind wander to pastures far beyond my actual existence, creating my own world of stories and adventures to indulge in. Some say it is the mark of genius to live in such a way while others claim it is the root of insanity. I claim neither, and I prefer never to judge and I no longer wish to be judged. My real life led me from the war stricken deserts of Iran to the clean and picturesque living of Switzerland and then to (OOH LALA) the charm and romance of Paris! How far I had traveled in my first five months of life! My young soul was exposed to a wide variety of cultures, traditions and passions — contributing to my thinking and actions then and now.
    Paris afforded me an incredible foundation of idealism, freedom, and community, all of which would remain central to my true identity and most cherished aspirations. Paris was a magnificent city filled with hope, romance, and the promise of eternal youth and love, manifested explicitly in the fast and independent lifestyle so many Parisians lived. The French language is recognized as one of the most delicious languages in the world, yet to foreigners it can sometimes seem a bit too ornate and disorderly — minor concerns when compared to the romantic emotions with which French is typically spoken!
    As a quiet family of humble demeanor unaccustomed to such boldness in speech and gesture, my parents and sister were shocked at first by this extravagant language and place. Just a few months after settling in Paris in 1980 my father would again leave to pursue his business ventures across Africa, leaving my mother, my sister, and me to take care of ourselves. My mother would one day lament that she never wanted to be both mother and father or later on best friend and coach and so on for my sister and me. She would have liked to be truly only our mother but future circumstances would leave her no choice. Despite missing my father during his absences, our days in Paris were filled with enriching trips to the world-famous museums and landmarks for which Paris is known — the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe were two of my favorites.
    My sister, as the avid athlete of the family during our time in Paris, was extremely passionate about figure skating, and nothing ever stopped my mother from delivering her to the skating rink each morning and night for her training. Since I was just a baby my mother carried me along to the rink in my crib, keeping me covered in hand-made gorgeous blankets and feeding me whenever she could. Skating was my sister’s love long before it would become my own and I am certain her interest eventually fueled my own passions toward it. In my very early years I apparently cared nothing