Rudy

One of my all time favorite movies is Rudy. There is nothing like the classic tale of an under dog who’s determination lands him on the field of his dreams. Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to witness a similar story take place—only it was in real life and the person was Sandler. His passion and perseverance landed him a successful run on an eleven foot vert ramp, followed by the feeling of pure pride and glory.

A full size vert ramp was recently added to the Vans Skatepark in Huntington Beach. When we got word that it was up and running, Sandler had to see for himself. Several weeks ago he saw it for the first time and immediately found his new obsession. He walked up to the intimidating wooden construction, studied it for a moment, and before I could ask what he thought, he climbed up the stairs and rolled down the eleven foot, vertical rollercoaster. The kid spent hours that day trying to land his run to no avail.

Once Sandler’s mind is set on something there is no stopping him. We revisited the intimidating obstacle multiple different weekends, and he always went straight for it. This week the ramp was buzzing with legendary pros, up and coming skaters and even a photographer capturing the exciting action. I thought all of the activity of the elite skaters might intimidate and deter Sandler from wanting to skate the ramp. I could not have been more wrong. He was not discouraged at all. In fact, he only knew those skating amongst him as buddies who enjoy the same activity. He got right in the mix as one of their peers and proceeded to try and try again. For those of you who are familiar with skate history—Christian Hosoi, Jeff Grosso and Tony Magnusson were a few of the legends on the ramp cheering Sandler on.

I could see the frustration and dismay mounting as the force of the vert catapulted him into the air and slammed him to the bottom of the ramp for the nine-hundredth time. However, the familiar look of determination and tenacity was burning hotter than ever before, and he was not going to give up. Like all good long shot movies, Sandler’s day was filled with trials and tribulations along with emotional and physical pain. There were tears, hugs and knuckles and in just a few hours every emotion was not only felt by Sandler but also the skaters and spectators around him.

The sun was starting to set and once again skateboarding shined its bright light on Sandler. Everyone surrounding the ramp continued to encourage him, even when I was starting to doubt that he was going to land it. Then he took what was to be his final run for the day and absolutely nailed it! Everyone went wild—clapping, banging their boards and cheering his name. He “sent it” a couple more times to assure himself he had it down and said, “Okay, bye ‘evewyone’. Have a nice day.”

As I wiped away my tears of pride and could see clearly again, I looked around and it was absolutely surreal to see some of the biggest names in skateboarding applauding my kid’s achievement as if he had just won an Olympic Gold Medal. How truly blessed Sandler is to share the passion of a lifestyle that continues to connect him with such epic proportions of humanity.

- Nikki