Dedication Takes a Lifetime

“Scared?” His voice was softer now, but he had opened the flood gates.

“Yes, I’m scared! First, I break my leg on your stupid Project X halfpipe, then I see what everyone else sees when I race. Do you know how dangerous snowboard cross is?” I didn’t give him a chance to respond. “My confidence was already lacking. With weeks and weeks to think about it, you kind of get it in your head that it’s dangerous and scary. As far as I’m concerned, I may never ride again. It’s way too risky.” I started to cry, and as I did, I realized this was our first real shouting match. Everything had just piled on, and we had obviously met our breaking point.

“Casey, don’t say that.” Shaun walked over and hugged me. “You’re still incredibly skilled and incredibly careful in your races. You’ve got this magical ability to avoid danger.”

“I don’t care. You’re incredibly skilled, but your crash in 2010 was really scary. Kevin was really skilled, and he had to go to rehab and everything. That was terrifying.”

“Everybody crashes sometimes, Casey. When you first learned, did you land every trick?”

“No.”

“Did you hurt yourself sometimes?”

I saw where he was going with this. “Yeah…”

“And did you let it stop you or scare you into submission? No. So why should this time be any different?”

“But -”

“No. I’ll do whatever it takes to help you. Believe me. If you want Louie and Scotty and Mase and Molly here, fine, I’ll get them. But when you’re ready, Casey, I will get you back on the slopes.”