It all began with a skating lesson at the small Peninsula Center rink.
"I remember there was a group getting a lesson before I went on the ice," she said. "They were sitting in a circle, and the teacher was teaching them how to fall. I went, 'Oh, no.' ''
Michelle Kwan shook her head.
"I remember thinking, 'Why are you showing them how to fall?' " she said.
You can hear the indignant 5-year-old voice in her head.
"Like the kids here today, when I got on the ice I grabbed the boards and held on for my life," she said, smiling at this memory.
The children Monday afternoon skated, some sort of, after the ribbon cutting at the opening of the East West Ice Palace, a sparkling new facility for skating with a fitness center the Kwan family has built in Artesia.
"This is a great rink," gushed Luc Robitaille. "This is a castle."
For those who need a reminder, Robitaille skated for the Kings when the Kings skated.
Bob Miller, who you may remember as television play-by-play announcer of the same Kings, was master of ceremonies.
"It's a thrill for me to be somewhere where someone actually is skating on ice," he said.
Miller got a sneak preview of the facility.
"This is the most beautiful ice facility I have ever seen," he said.
Kwan, coming up fast on her 25th birthday, was the center of attention, the reason there were more than a dozen television crews from local, national and international stations.
"I want to thank my parents," she said. "I'm just filling in for them."
She thanked her parents, Estella and Danny, several times. She talked about her brother Ron and sister Karen. This is a close family. It is a grounded family.
Estella and Danny prefer to remain in the background. Given their preference, they are way in the background.
Before Michelle won one of her nine U.S. National Championships in figure skating, before she won one of her five World Championships, she got a taste of what was to come on an otherwise quiet Wednesday, March 9, 1994, during a press conference at a hotel near LAX.
This 4-foot-11, 88-pound 13-year-old had been an alternative to Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding at the Lillehammer Olympics. A group of reporters hammered her with questions about Kerrigan's typically bitter complaints following Oksana Baiul winning the Olympic gold medal.
She handled it with a smile and poise.
"This is only a sport," her father said after the press conference.
Only a sport?
Yes. And no. He has watched his youngest child grow into a mature young woman standing 5-2¼ with many peaks and some come-crashing-down valleys in her career. Major corporations line up to secure her services as their spokeswoman.
Now they have this new facility, this new business. It's in another league from the small family restaurant they once had in Torrance.
"I think the key is you want them to be good citizens, to have a good life, have a happy life," he said.
This was a father speaking of all his children.
"If you don't enjoy what you're doing, you're not going to have a happy life," he said.
The words resonate on May 16, 2005, in the smiles of family members. Clearly, Estella and Danny got it right.
Michelle handled her speech, the ribbon cutting, a short skating exhibition, some stick handling with Robitaille, a mass TV interview, some one-on-ones and the obligatory autograph signing with the same smile and poise she had in '94 when it was all so new.
"I remember that press conference," she said. "I was wondering, 'Why are all these people here? Why are there so many cameras?' I couldn't believe they were for me."
Along with the poise, she now is an accomplished, polished speaker. She wore a black suit for the speech and ribbon cutting, changed to a sparkling silver outfit for her skating exhibi
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