Great to be back 'home'

It's impossible for my thoughts not to hone in on Calgary right now. Home.

People go home, they do it every day.

Home from school, home from work, home from business, home from abroad.

And as you get older and your life spreads itself out farther and farther, and your horizons stretch, you seem to acquire more and more 'homes'.

It's certainly true in my case and I'm all the more fortunate because of it.

Mom and dad's farm in Caroline, then Rocky Mountain House, then Edmonton, then Calgary, then Toronto . . . they've all been home to me and continue to be so each in their own way.

And all the time, it's a case of home from the rink. Home for the summer. Home for Christmas.

They all make sense as 'home' and have become my way of life.

But home for the Hall of Fame?

That's a whole other ball game. Who would have thought it?

If it truly has come to this, then I can think of no better 'home' than Calgary for it to happen -- and at home among the young skaters and hopefuls taking part in this week's Canadian figure skating championships.

They are the ones setting out on a road which will lead them toward all sorts of new homes, just like the ones to which my own journey has led me.

Calgary. How appropriate.

One of my first big steps toward my induction into the Hall of Fame this Sunday took place in the Olympic Saddledome as it was then.

Back then, in 1987, I can guarantee I was as excited as a little kid getting a new toy about the opportunity given me.

Here it was. A chance to compete on the world stage, with the best, against the best and in my own backyard.

When I was 21, it was all adrenaline and instinct.

Even still, I truly felt the home court advantage and used the 1987 Skate Canada event in Calgary to further my career.

What I learned there I used only a year later to skate and compete well at the Olympics.

So here we are. After a decade of competing, touring and travelling, I now realize that we build relationships with arenas, with buildings.

I just know that being inducted into the Hall of Fame, back at the Saddledome in Calgary, with all my family and friends around, is a perfect fit.

I always thought an honour of this size should come after the skates had gathered some dust.

You know, something to look forward to and the true time to look back on something wonderful.

But, instead, it has arrived at a time when I'm still looking ahead, still hoping the arena will fill up a few more times with people who've come to see me and the rest of my skating friends.

I have been asked many times, usually in interviews, what sort of sacrifices I had to make along the way.

With my upcoming induction into the Hall of Fame, I am really just beginning to understand where I was going all those years 'along the way' -- the same way many of the young skaters involved in our national championships this week in Calgary are about to embark upon.

The sacrifice, the different homes, the dedication, the hard work -- this is, and must be, the cornerstone of life for every successful athlete.

You really have not bled for your sport until you have had your fair share of watching the sunrise.

But more of that tomorrow.