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Memories of mother join skater on the ice
By AARON SHAROCKMAN LARGO -- She danced lost. Lindsey Kratochwill's skating was somber -- like her turned upside down life. Lindsey, 12, had her everything ripped from her when a car crash killed her mom. The scars linger two months later. Dressed in black, she didn't smile as she turned, tucked and spun on the ice. Moving to the macabre music from the motion picture A Beautiful Mind, a piece that her mom had picked, you could see it on Lindsey's expressionless face. She was thinking about her next jump, but she was focusing on Mom. The Kratochwills are surviving the loss of Cindy, a dedicated mother, a devoted wife and an amazing friend. Every day is a struggle. Two first-place trophies didn't change that Friday. When a family friend accidentally snapped the golden skater from the top of the marble trophy, Lindsey hardly blinked. It wasn't important. "I'm so nervous," said Rodney Kratochwill, midway through the daylong competition. He had mixed up the music tapes for his daughter's performances. "I'm just waiting to see what I screw up next." Kratochwill is doing his best to keep Lindsey and his younger daughter, Chelsea, living the normal lives of Pinellas preteens. He was shining Lindsey's boots on what would have been his 22nd wedding anniversary. He knows he's no Cindy, who was killed April 4 on the way to skating practice after a day of car pooling, a week of Brownie meetings and a month of PTA events. He just wants his daughters to be all right with Dad. He's no Cindy. "Sometimes they all look so lost without her," said Gayle Weaver, a close family friend. Lindsey Kratochwill will talk your ear off about frogs or fruits or the time she called the White House. But she doesn't talk about her mom's dying. Smiles turn to nods. She tightens her lips to keep her loss inside, but the message comes through clear. She thought about her a lot Friday, her first big skate without her No. 1 fan. Lindsey sat beside Cindy when a 71-year-old man barreled through five lanes of traffic, a median and a red light, slamming head-on into the driver's side of the Kratochwills' car, causing it to flip and land on its roof. Chelsey, who turned 10 last month, was in the back seat. They were on their way to skating practice, getting ready for a big competition the next day in Orlando. Chelsey still hasn't put on skates; she broke her right leg and needed metal rods inserted into her thigh. The rods come out in July. The driver, William Hemple, hasn't been charged with a crime as Clearwater police continue to investigate why he crossed traffic and struck the Kratochwills. He's living in an RV park in Tavares. Rodney Kratochwill took off work Friday to spend the day with Lindsey. He carried the clothes, got the water and shelled out dollar bills when Chelsey wanted to win a whoopee cushion. He took the pictures, recorded every moment on videotape and beamed with pride while his daughter executed with precision on the ice. The two spent the day together, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., but didn't say much. Rodney was figuring out what to do, wondering what Cindy would say. Lindsey was concentrating on her skating and then on her friends. "She has a wonderful group of friends," said Gayle Weaver, who set up a fund in Cindy's memory. "They're amazing together." Some cornered her Friday with flowers and a poster giving congratulations and transferring smiles. They don't skate. They had no reason to come other than to cheer on a friend. There's been a big group cheering on the Kratochwills for the past two months: It started immediately after the accident, when Chelsey's and Lindsey's schools got together to provide home-cooked dinners every night. After four weeks of trading off between Curtis Fundamental and Coachman Fundamental schools, where Cindy had been a part of the PTA, the job passed to the Kratochwills' friends. They cooked for another month. Then there's Dee Arose, a longtime Clearwater substitute teacher, who came to the Kratochwills' Clearwater home every week and on weekends to help Chelsey with her schoolwork while she recovered with her broken leg. People pass through the Kratochwills' front door nearly every day to see how things are going. It's a tribute to Cindy, Rodney said. "We've gone from one Mom to a dozen taking care of me and the kids," said Rodney Kratochwill, adding they're grateful for the help. Lindsey, who plays the flute and writes poetry, is going to be something big, Weaver said. Her day ended Friday on the first-place podium with trophies in both arms. But trophies were peripheral. "Every day there is a different opportunity that we won't be able to share with Cindy," Rodney Kratochwill said. It seems Lindsey's known that all along.
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From the Times North Pinellas desks Editorial Letters |
