Yvonne Dowlen discovered a lifelong love of figure skating the moment she stepped on the ice. Her passion led to a career as a touring performer with the Ice Capades that lasted almost 50 years. Still skating competitively at the age of 90, Dowlen shares her inspiring story in this touching short from Balcony Nine Media and reminds viewers that, “what you do with your life and what you find enjoyable with your life is up to you”.
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It is easier to skate than walk.
Because you push, you push with one foot and you stand on the other one.
And you don't have to keep moving your feet all the time.
But yeah, skating is, well it's, it's just fun.
My name is Yvonne, Yvonne Marie Broders-Dowland.
I was born July 5th, 1925.
Is that right?
7, 5, 25.
I'm now 90 and I've been skating as long as I've been, had a pair of skates.
My father worked for AT&T, an old-fashioned American telephone telegraph company.
And then they transferred him to Denver, where we have stayed forever.
He was working so hard and he was so dedicated.
The doctor told him he had to have some recreation, so the family went to Evergreen.
On the lake, we would go out and you could skate outside.
My youth was great.
It once was the time that somebody would come up, well try this.
Well, okay, we'll try that.
Oh, that was pretty good.
Try this.
Well, that was okay.
Well, jump. Oh, well, okay.
Well, gee, I didn't like that, I fell down.
After a little while, I became good enough and I was able to skate in competitions and one thing or another.
I met some people who were in a show in Dallas.
So I went down and I tried out for it and I was the right height and the right size.
And I was one of ten and I was one of the girls in the show.
And I don't remember what, but we all did something and we got paid.
I loved being in the show and I enjoyed what we did.
I enjoyed it the whole time.
I was there for many years.
Life just seemed to go on, you know.
Things happened to me.
I was sick, I was better.
I got married, I had children.
Your life, I don't know.
I guess some people can direct their lives, but I kind of just let mine happen.
Well, it was a couple of years ago.
And I was downstairs and I was trying to pour myself a cup of coffee.
I poured the coffee and I couldn't drink it.
And I went upstairs and I said, Sherry, I was trying to say, I can't drink my coffee, my mouth won't work.
And so she looked at me and she said, get dressed, we're going to the hospital, you're having a stroke.
They kept me in the hospital for a couple of days and then I went to a recovery sort of thing.
And whenever you have something that interrupts your regular living, it's so easy to say, oh, I could do this once.
I could do this, I could do this.
And no, I can't now, but I will try.
And so I've been working at it and it takes a while.
It takes a long time.
And maybe I'm just not as good as I once was.
Probably not, because I could do a lot of things when I was better and younger.
And of course, I think age has something to do with it, too.
I like going to the rink and I like skating.
And any time I can go to the rink, I go.
I try and go at least five days a week.
And I skate quite a bit and I'd like to be skating for as long as I can skate.
Somebody said, well, how can you skate so well?
You tipple when you walk.
Well, I tipple when I walk, but I don't have edges on my shoes.
I have edges on my skates and I can skate on my skates, so I don't fall down very much.
I haven't fallen that many times lately.
What you do with your life and what you find enjoyable with your life is up to you.
And I think it's wonderful if you can follow things that you like to do in your life.
I like waking up in the morning, because I know I have another day.
