Author Unlocks Childhood Memories with 'SkateKey'

Jennifer Ranu helped unlock some childhood memories with the help of her “Skatekey.”

“Skatekey” is a collection of 22 tales of nostalgia from men and women who have shared their memories of an activity, which was popular for many generations – roller skating.

Ranu, a Wayne resident and an educator by profession, recently self-published the book with the hopes of sharing these tales so that youngsters today could see what life was like for kids in different generations. She talked about the book at the Hasbrouck Heights library Monday.

Ranu never thought she’d be a book author but was inspired to tell these stories after a trip with old friends got her reminiscing of their childhood. She told the audience at the Hasbrouck Heights library that she and her friends had found themselves down and out talking about the many different challenges they were dealing with currently.

Suddenly they found themselves laughing and singing as they recalled the days they used to play games like hop scotch and “before you know it, it was like magic. We felt better.”

She shared the experience with her mother who began to share tales of her young girl days on roller skates. Suddenly Ranu was hearing many tales from others of different generations all whose memories rolled out on skates and that is when she decided to put it all together into an anthology which she hopes children like her own grandchildren will appreciate one day.  As one woman in the audience pointed out kids just don’t play on roller skates these days let alone play much outside as many are glued to computers.

Many of the tales come from those who grew up in north Jersey area, many from Paterson in which case those familiar with the area may recognize the streets and other landmarks mentioned in the book.

The stories in the book date from the times of the Great Depression, the World War II era, the Baby Boomer generation as well as tales from the 1960s and 70s, Ranu explained. The oldest person she interviewed for the book is 93 years old, Ranu said.

“Each story in the book is unique,” Ranu told the audience. “Everyone’s story is connected in that they all used roller skates and all had skatekeys but some stories are cute and funny and others tell about the days like the Great Depression where roller skates were a form of transportation.”

She went on explain one tale which is about a young girl who was sent to the butcher to order meatballs. Back in those days butcher shops had sawdust floors. Forgetting her skatekey the youngster in the story talks about her experience of having no choice but to go into the store with her skates on getting the wheels caked up with sawdust.

As part of the book discussion, Ranu read a fun and humorous story from “Patricia” who recalled her tom boy days spent on the streets in Paterson roller skating with her friends and how she used a certain item of her mothers as an ankle saver.

Many audience members reminisced about those days and the types of skates and other toys they had and how they carried their skatekeys, either on a chain or on a shoelace. One woman said she was on her skates from the time she was out of the school until it was time for dinner.