After finishing a mountain bike ride today, I stopped in the park, went to my typical semi-secluded spot, and got out the yoyo and started to throw. It was in the mid to upper forties, jacket weather for yoyoing, and the park was pretty empty. After a few minutes I hear a voice say, “that’s beautiful.”
I introduced myself to the young woman and she told me that a child had told her to come see what I was doing. I laughed and we visited a bit, then she asked me if I’d mind showing a group of children some yoyoing. She called over seven children of various ages, when I saw them it was evident they were all battling cancer. They formed a semi circle and watched, cheered, and clapped as I demonstrated my limited trick repertoire for about thirty minutes.
Everyone was a bit cold after sitting/standing in the weather so we walked over to restaurant and got them something warm to drink and of course I’ll be sending a box of yoyos to some kids Monday. I’m hoping to meet the group again in the near future.
I do like it when my yoyoing makes others happy, but as an introvert, I usually feel really uncomfortable when random people I don’t know or even people that I do know just stare for a bit. It is cool, especially when I can get someone interested in trying out yoyoing long (ish)-term, but then they always ask “Can I try?” and “Can you walk the dog?”
Don’t understate your trick bank - if you entertained kids for 30 minutes, that’s pretty admirable. I could visualize the scene in my mind. The whole thing makes me happy. Great job!
That is wonderful. And it is a special gift, not just to be able to throw in a way that people find beautiful, but to be able to share it in a way that brings him joy. Lots of players can make yo-yoing look awesome and Incomprehensibly complex, but making it seem cool yet still approachable is its own superpower.
I had a similar experience at Silver Dollar City not too long ago. I was waiting for my wife to get back from a bathroom trip and had a throw with me.
I started playing as a large crew from the same bus load I imagine due to their matching neon shirts, but they stopped, circled around and cheered and jeered while i played. There was maybe 40 or so of them and the energy between us was palatable. The leader (teacher?) gave me kudos and thanked me for showing her crew what an artis can do with a simple toy.
I only played for about 10 mins at most, but it was in a heavy traffic area. By the time it was done and my wife was back, I had 2 employees talk to me and give compliments, but I must has shown, directly and indirectly over 100 passerbys as their gaze fell on my antics.
I felt it was a good exposure for alot of people to remind them of the simple joys and a little dedication can go a long way with impressing the world.
I appreciate the comments. Yoyos have always made me happy, just to pick one up makes me smile. I think it makes most people happy even if it doesn’t make them happy to admit it.
What a wonderful and heart warming story, thank you for sharing with us! Makes me realise I need to get over myself and get used to throwing in public!
Thanks! I don’t really yoyo in public to get noticed, I usually just find a spot I like and if someone sees me and approaches me, great, if not, perfect.
Man, thats great that you did that for them, and brought a little light into their lives.
Sick kids are one of the very few things that actually gets through my somewhat jaded exterior and truly gets me down. Especially cancer. Watched my mom fight ovarian for 14 years til she passed in 2011. It’s a rough one to deal with, and I hope it goes the way of polio and smallpox (all but eradicated) sooner rather than later. As shitty as it was seeing my mom go through it, I truly cannot even imagine it being my child.
Really makes me realize that some people got it a lot harder than me when I meet people like that.
Sry to get all dark y’all, like I said sick kids just get to me. Really happy you did what you did though dude, good karma for sure.
