I didn't have the most normal childhood, especially in the winter time. But to me, it shaped me who I am today and it has brought people into my life that I consider hockey family forever. Every weekend, I would spend my time in beyond freezing ice rinks, hotels that were nice and hotels that no one would step foot in, but it always had to have a pool in it for after the games. For those weekends, I would constantly be taking long "roadies" to different cities, states, and sometimes even across the border to Canada. It's a lifestyle that I wouldn't trade, it's memories that still to this day we talk about. They are stories you cannot make up because they are so bizarre.

I didn't just have one brother on the team, I had about 20. Those brothers have seen me grow up and still to this day they would do anything for me if I ever needed anything. Other brother and sisters on the team became play buddies in the stands, hallways and pools. You grow up together, no matter how long it's been now since you have last seen each other, you still act like brother and sister. It's a bond that cannot be broken, even if the traveling has ended, the games to be played are done and that roster is no longer active. You reflect back onto those crazy memories, parents yelling at the refs, getting kicked out, getting into agreements with the opposing teams' parents, and pylons getting thrown onto the ice and scoring with about 10 players out there. Crazy things that have happened in the game, hotels, and car rides.

I remember still to this day, the whole team was following each other because the directions we all had didn't take us to ice rink that we needed to be at (we were an hour and a half late), the lead car turned on a one way street the wrong way, and we all followed. As we all were following each other, I remember looking out the window and seeing a guy getting arrested on his bike while holding a brown paper bag in his hand—mind you, it was still early in the morning. The last car in this "follow the leader" sequence got pulled over by a cop, saying she was going down a one-way street the wrong way. She told the cop she was from out of town, and she was following the cars in front of her that are with her son's hockey team. The cop then asked her, "If they went off a cliff would you follow them?". Her response was "right now, in this moment, yes I would." You spend every weekend with these families, and eventually, you become your own hockey family; you trust them with everything.

Being a hockey sister has had its ups and downs. Early morning to hit the road and late nights after a loss, which so much tension in the car you could cut it. You didn't talk about the game unless my brother brought it up, then it was okay to talk about. Ice rinks became my second home that has a distinct smell that to this day I can still smell it. Part cold air, part sweat and mold and part cleaning supplies. Those hotels rooms became a place for floor hockey in the hallways and getting complaints late at night. Carrying your brother's hockey sticks like you are the proudest sister ever in the world, especially if they won a big game.

Cuss words become normal words you hear in the rink. The language is different in hockey—almost like a made up language. Wheels, Celly, Barn, Chrip, Gino, Pylon, etc. I know how to talk and think like a hockey player now. I know how to read stats and take stats, how to scout goalies and players. I have learned to be tough and to suck it up when it's hockey season, especially when you take a puck to the ribs from your brother's own defensemen trying to ice the puck. I have learned to love the game of hockey, plays, and crazy fans.

Hockey brought so much value to my life, and it still does today. There is always a hockey game on in our house. We are a divided household on teams and we chirp each other to no end, but that is just the fun in being a hockey family. Being a hockey sister creates a solid common ground bond between my brother and I as well as some of the best friendships between my hockey college and professional playing friends and myself.