Hans Brinker?

Greetings, gentle readers.
I was touched and moved by the story of a woman in central Alberta who offered to give her home away to any person willing to write an essay and pay an entry fee of $25.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/millarville-million-dollar-home-contest-1.4985249

The written word is one of the most powerful forces in human history.  It's lovely to see it used to help someone make a life-changing decision.  Twenty-five dollars is also a very significant amount of money.

$25

In this particular instance, twenty-five dollars could be used to purchase a house in Millarville.  The same amount was used to buy these:

These ice skates were purchased by a kindly fellow in Ontario, but they signify something more than just steel blades attached to uncomfortable shoes.  The person selling these skates was also abandoning hope and admitting failure.

Past

Thirty years ago, these tough pieces of footwear endured five A.M. practices, clumsy drills on uneven outdoor rinks, and all the sorts of abuse expected of hockey equipment.  Since then, they've cruised on lakes and ponds as well as more civilized and dignified arenas.  Those times are gone, never to be relived or even imagined.  Those memories now belong to another person in another time.

Present

Is there a point in a human life where we stop living and begin dying?  A person who owns these ice skates could argue that he or she is still an active participant in the universe — someone with the ability to transform a sheet of frozen water into an artistic canvas, a workout gym, and a dance palace all at once.  The person who sold these skates has closed the doors to those enchantments and left the magic to die alone in the cold.

Future

Nothing lasts forever, but sometimes we can hold the hope that our achievements and accomplishments will live beyond ourselves.  The thought of teaching a child to glide across the ice and feel the thrill of taking that final, skipping crossover before dashing against the air so hard that your tears fly back into your ears is a strong one.  Unfortunately, there are no heirs here, no protégés or students.  Someone who owns these skates could hold the dream of helping a young Danielle Goyette or Katarina Witt flourish.  A person selling these skates is leaving all of his or her skills and memories to be forgotten forever.

If it is true that life is lived in chapters, then it is interesting to see how people define those divisions.  Sometimes it is a traumatic or exhilarating event, like 25 May 2005.  Sometimes it's some sort of epiphany triggered by a thought or a word. 
In some cases, it's twenty-five dollars.

Until next time, goodnight England and the Colonies.
—mARKUS