Double Dutch on Our Block

I was a double dutch champion when I was eleven. Two long ropes, turning in opposite directions, and you jump in between them. I hadn't done it in thirty years. Then, this July, I saw two girls on my block trying to jump with one old rope and a lot of frustration.

I went inside and found two long ropes in my garage. I asked if I could show them something. They looked at me suspiciously. Then I jumped in.

My knees complained. My heart was pounding. But my feet remembered the rhythm. The girls' mouths fell open. "Mr. Desmond can jump!"

By the end of the week, there were fifteen kids on the sidewalk every evening. I taught them how to turn, how to time their entry and the old rhymes my sisters and I chanted when I was a kid. Their parents came out to watch. Then a few of them jumped in too, laughing and tripping.

Now my block has a double dutch team. They're entering a competition in the fall. They call me "Coach."