Uncle Bob

My uncle Bob heavily influenced me.  In his own words he could be described as a “hard working, hard nosed, hard drinking Polack.”  As he matured he quit drinking which helped me recognize that you could still be mannerly and have fun without drinking to excess.  He took a lot of grief over his ethnic background but showed that the best revenge is just to live an incredibly successful life.  He gave me my first real job and I learned a lot.  My minimum wage co-workers and I were compensated fairly for our skill set.  I was inspired to pursue my education and training so I could both make more money and have more fun doing it.  The example of his love towards my aunt was inspirational.  He, like most men, is not as verbal in his expression of affection especially to snot-nosed young punks like me but he always showed it.

Bob Probizanski gave me my first skateboard!  It was a product sample from Century Fiberglass back in the day.  It was merely an orange toy to the adult world.  It opened the world up to me.  I was instantly cool.  I learned balance momentum and persistence through that piece of modern magic.  Urethane wheels and real trucks gave me a platform to explore the urban playground that was Riverside California in the late 1970s.  Some of the scars I earned remain, some do not but the lessons shaped me into the man I would become.

You gotta be tough.  Suck it up sunshine a little road rash is part of the game.  The big words we use now are risk management but to an adolescent “can I pull of this trick, how much will it hurt if I don’t and how many cool points do I get with the chicks” is just a simplified way of calculating danger.  The broken bones are visceral feedback on improper decisions.  The whole realities of how good are you and how much does God love you all over again.  I continue to skateboard but tend to be mellow cat in my approach rather than radical Ronney.

I have so many good memories of skating it is hard to express how much it meant to me.  I won a contest when I was in middle school and became an “honorary” member of the Pepsi skateboard team.  They gave me a t-shirt because I tried a handstand.  As an outsider from Louisiana I was accepted in the middle school hierarchy.  I recall the dark times learning how drugs ruin good people and how skating made me separate the drugs and alcohol intake so I could perform. 

That first board was quickly shredded and I learned the value of good equipment and how to care for my ride.  I was inspired to earn money to get a sturdier board.  The people that loved me showered me with safety equipment and I was soon at a skatepark.  We moved to the country and my skating took back seat to cross country running, school and motorcycling in the desert but I never lost my love of skateboarding.  While in the Air Force I rode in the Philippines, Malaysia, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Guam, Australia, and Indonesia.  I know the “go for it” attitude require to drop into the bowl at Upland gave me the fortitude to leap from airplanes and other seemingly counterintuitive actions that continue to fascinate me.  Balance, momentum management and gravity games have been a central part of my life.  Thank you Uncle Bob.

                                                     Passing on the gift