Having been roughly a year since I started seriously throwing, I would like to make a commemoration post.
Picture this, summer 2008, a little kid is getting into a bed at Great Wolf Lodge, Virginia. He feels a lump in his bed. He reaches under the mattress and in surprise, pulls out a yoyo that says “Great Wolf” on it. He climbs down from his bunk and shows it to his dad. The little kid’s dad, having known a bit about yoyos when he was a kid, cuts the string to length and teaches the boy how to throw. This is the beginning of his yoyo addiction.
Later that year, at Walgreen’s, the same boy spies a blue Imperial on a rack and begs his mother to buy it. She buys it and they go to McDonald’s for lunch. While in McDonald’s, the boy does the only trick he knows, gravity pull, over and over again. They throw their trash away and leave.
The boy becomes obsessed with his blue plastic Imperial. In time he starts to learn tricks, like “Walk The Dog” and “Rock The Baby”. He asks his father if there is anything better than an Imperial. The result is a trip to Walgreen’s to buy a red plastic Butterfly. He later looses the hobby when he can’t get Trapeze.
Summer 2010, Sean’s house; two kids are watching Disney channel because nothing else is on at 12:00 am. There is a yoyo on of one of their shows and the boy goes home and starts to throw again. Journey to the Center of the Earth also comes out around this time building his interest. I start to learn “Trapeze” and buy my first bearing yoyo, the Mosquito. This gives me more spin time allowing longer tricks with my pathetic throw. I will later give up again due to my inability to learn new tricks.
Early 2011; my friend, Connor brings a Mosquito to a Boy Scout meeting, and does “Walk the Dog” and “Rock the Baby”. I bring my Mosquito to the next meeting and teach him “Trapeze”.
Early May; I join my first yoyo forum under the name “PlasticWhip” (The trick I was working on at the time) because of issues with my new FH2. I get the advice I need and start to learn more about the yoyo community and the different types of yoyos.
Late June; I join my second yoyo forum. The community starts to play a big part of my yoyo life.
As you can see there are a few people who played a big role in my getting to where I am now. One of them is my dad. Without him I never would have learned how to throw properly. Another is my friend Sean, without whom, I would never have picked up that Imperial again and realized the awesomeness of the world of yo. I would also like to thank Connor, who sparked my interest this last time. Without him I don’t think I would have ever become a member of this forum, and a part of the yoyo community.