Over 30 years ago, a movie came out that somehow became an iconic Christmas classic.
In it, a kid named Kevin McCallister finds himself lost and alone in the city of New York.
Through a string of adventures (and very questionable parenting logistics), he meets a few unlikely friends.
One of them is known simply as the Pigeon Lady.
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There’s a scene—quiet, gentle—where Kevin and the Pigeon Lady talk in an abandoned attic above a bustling music hall.
The world below is full of light and music. Warmth. Up here? Stillness... and dust.
Kevin talks about a pair of rollerblades he got once. The kind every kid wanted. But he was scared to wear them outside—afraid he’d ruin them. So he only tried them a few times. Inside, in his room. And then, one day, he outgrew them.
The Pigeon Lady listens.
And then she says:
“A person’s heart and a person’s feelings are very different than skates.”
Kevin countered:
“Well they're kind of the same thing.”
Kevin continued:
“If you aren't going to use your heart so. What’s the difference if it gets broken?... When you do decide to try it, it won’t be any good. You should take a chance.”
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Who knew I’d still be thinking about that scene around 30 years later? And it’s not even Christmas. (Not that the big-box stores would let you forget.)
How many things do we put away? Things we love. Things we used to dream about. Things we never even gave a real shot.
Not because they weren’t right. But because we were afraid.
Afraid we’d wreck it. Afraid it wouldn’t be good. Or… that we weren’t good enough to begin with.
Or maybe…
We just got busy. And by the time we looked up, the moment had passed.
The skates didn’t fit anymore.
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Sometimes we guard things so tightly, we don’t realize we’re holding them back.
That dream you’re “saving for later”. That idea you won’t share until it’s perfect. That part of yourself you’re waiting to show—once you feel ready.
You didn’t preserve them. You kept them waiting so long, they forgot how to move. And somewhere along the way, maybe you did too.
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Maybe the skates still fit. Maybe they don’t.
But I think about them anyway.
Still new. Still tucked away. Untouched. Unscuffed.
Funny how sometimes… It’s not the falls we remember. It’s the chances we never gave ourselves.