I wore my daughter’s hockey pants the day after Christmas.

Padded. Bulky. And exactly what I needed.

Miranda took up hockey a year ago after watching the Penguins play. She told me it looked like magic.

So for Christmas, she didn’t ask for anything wrapped. She asked me to come skate with her.

I loved skating as a child. Won a competition when I was eleven—camel, scratch spin, waltz jump. The ice was my place once.

But I hadn’t skated in decades.

So there I was in Roanoke, lacing up, borr...