My 40 Years Plus Friendship With Marion Ennis Curtis

Have you ever seen the movie Beaches with Bette Midler? It is one of my favorite movies because it reminds me of the friendship I've had with Marion Ennis Curtis that has gone on for over 40 years.



Marion and I met in Squaw Valley, California, when I was 10 years old. The year was 1966. My family went there for a vacation. We combined skating with a time away from home. We returned the next summer. Then, in 1968, I asked my parents if I could be a "McKinstry kid" and stay all summer long.

Juli McKinstry's mother, Mary McKinstry, ran a boarding house for young figure skaters. It was like skating camp and I wanted to be part of it.

That's the summer that Marion and I became best friends. What drew me to Marion was that she didn't try to be in the "In Crowd." She just worked hard at her skating. We began walking to and from the rink together and doing things like going swimming and hiking together every day.

When that summer ended, we wrote letters to keep in touch. Every summer after that we just picked up where we left off.

I believe our last summer in Squaw Valley was in 1971, but our letter writing continued.

Marion visited my family in southern California when she had just turned 16. We went to Disneyland together and my parents even let her drive their car to Westwood Village in Los Angeles! We went to the movies and ate out and our friendship grew deeper.

We both went off to college and we continued writing letters. Everytime I opened a letter from Marion, I was so happy.

When 1975 Nationals was in Oakland, Marion came to watch me skate. When 1976 Pacific Coast was in Berkeley, she came again.

Then, in December of 1977, I took a crazy trip to California over Christmas Vacation. I had just quit competitive skating. Marion and I reunited during that trip and I stayed in her San Jose apartment for about a week.

She had some extra vacation time, so after my vacation, in January of 1978, she flew back to Colorado with me and stayed in my tiny Colorado College dorm room for about a month! That is when our childhood friendship turned into an adult one. During that trip, Marion auditioned for Ice Follies, we went skiing, swimming at my family's Colorado condo, and just enjoyed one another.

I graduated from college in June of 1978. Marion completed her California Teaching Credential.

Our letters to one another continued.

I moved to southern California in 1978 and married Dan Farris in April of 1979.

Right after our honeymoon in Colorado, actually just a week later, Dan and I decided to visit Marion in northern California.

Less than a year later, we visited Marion again. Things were not working out with her new teaching job, and I suggested she visit us in southern California.

She not only visited us, but moved to Long Beach shortly after that!

Then, she and Dan both ended up with jobs at the Long Beach V.A.

Marion lived in various places during her years in Long Beach, but what is most significant is that Marion rented a room in my Grandma Fannie's house for a year or two. Marion even called my grandmother "Grandma!"

In 1983, I began teach skating with Ice Capades, and in 1984 I began teaching at Ice Capades Chalet in Costa Mesa.

That's when I talked Marion into teaching skating there in addition to working full-time at the V.A.



It was great fun teaching skating together. I left Costa Mesa to teach at Paramount in 1985. Marion eventually taught at Norwalk. Then Marion took her talented student, Caroline Song, to Paramount. Again, we got to teach and skate together.

After we left Long Beach in 1988 for San Francisco, Marion stayed in southern California and met her husband to be, Bruce Curtis.

What is ironic is that Dan and I met Bruce before Marion did. Bruce had a friend named Meg Lawson who introduced us to Bruce (on the day we left Long Beach for San Francisco) on Easter Sunday 1988. Bruce even prayed for us that day!

In 1989, Bruce and Marion were married and I was the matron-of-honor at her wedding. A week or two earlier, Dan and I had renewed our wedding vows in San Francisco, and Marion was my maid of honor at that ceremony.



We visited Marion and Bruce a few times during their early days of marriage. In late 1991, we moved to Colorado.

Whenever we visited California, we tried to link up. Our letters and phone calls continued.

We shared our joys of having children. Marion inspired me to homeschool my children.

I introduced Marion to inline skating and Pic Skating. We love inline skating together whenever we get together.



We wrote HOW TO JUMP AND SPIN ON INLINE SKATES together. Bruce did the editing.

We began the International Inline Figure Skating Association together.

We shared our life's joys and sorrows.

No matter what, Marion told me that she was my friend through thick and thin. She's always been there for me.



In March of 2009, we went to the World Figure Skating Championships together. Marion made me a beautiful quilt (in honor of our friendship) before the event and gave it to me the first night of the competition.



Our families shared an evening together in a private suite during Worlds.



What was/is amazing is that my parents have bought a condo in the Naples area of Long Beach that is walking distance from Marion's husband's Bruce's father's home. Her family can stay there and we can stay in my family's condo and we can vacation together.

So...at Worlds we stayed (walking distance from one another) in Long Beach and drove into Los Angeles to see Worlds.



Then, during the summer of 2009 we connected again to vacation together in Long Beach.

Not many people have a friendship like ours. Our lives continue to connect. Things are easier now. Email, Facebook, and online chats have taken the place of letters. We continue to enjoy one another and I know my friend Marion will be there for me through thick and thin!