KITTY CARRUTHERS
cer in Houston, raising more than $30,000. “One of my best friends was
diagnosed with breast cancer last year,” Carruthers Conrad said. Her sister-in-law, Dina, who is married to Carruthers Conrad’s brother/skating partner Peter, 54, had done one of the walks in California last Septem- ber.
“She told me about what an amazing organization it was,” Car- ruthers Conrad said. “So we formed a little team. My girlfriend who had the cancer and still is in treatment walked the 39.3 miles with us. Isn’t that amazing?” Over the course of two days, the four walked all over Houston in what amounted to a marathon on day one and a half-marathon on day two.
“It was one of the most amaz-
ing weekends that I’ve ever had the opportunity to be part of,” she said. “Te people who volunteered and the atmosphere, it was so positive. Everybody coming together, it was just incredible.” In addition to breast cancer,
Carruthers Conrad also devotes time to organizations involved with adoption issues — she and Peter are adopted as are her two oldest chil- dren — and diabetes. She developed diabetes as an adult. “We’ve been blessed in so many
ways; we’ve taught the children since they were little to learn to be involved in the community, to give
back to the community and make it a better place,” she said. In addition to Brett Peter, she
and Conrad are parents to Kyle Richard, 17, Kayla Nicole, 16, and Brooke Elizabeth, 14. Having four children in four years made life a bit crazy when they were little, but Car- ruthers Conrad said she still looked at each year and said, “Tis is my favorite — even as teenagers. Tere hasn’t been an age I haven’t loved and enjoyed.”
Te most passionate skater among the kids was the oldest, who skated for eight years, even com- peting at the national level until he lost a yen for competition. He’s grateful for the valuable life lessons he learned from skating and is con- sidering skating and competing as a collegian.
Te youngest also skated for
a while before finding her passion in dance and theater. She is still in- volved in skating and takes part in a program at the rink run by B.L. Wy- lie (mother of Olympic silver medal- ist Paul Wylie) called “Star Skaters,” which works with kids with autism, blindness, learning disabilities or other challenges who skate for thera- py.
“Brooke already knows what she wants to do in life,” Carruthers Conrad said. “She wants to work with special needs children.” Kyle is crazy about football and Kayla is on her high school track team.
Kitty and Peter Carruthers Raising four children effectively
brought an end to her professional skating career with Peter, which after Ice Capades included several seasons with Stars on Ice. Last year, they per- formed in the Legends show, and she said preparing was a bit of a comedy act.
“It was surprising how many things came back so quickly,” she re- called. “We’d think, ‘OK, what can we do?’ Ten it was, ‘No, I can’t do that, my knee.’ ‘Tat was my broken wrist; I’m not going to be able to do that.’ We just laughed and had the best time. You realize how much skating is a part of your life and how much you love it. It was definitely a highlight of my year.” Carruthers Conrad coach-
es mostly young skaters. She loves working with them, taking them to competitions and watching them grow up. Many stay in touch after they stop skating. “It’s so much fun to watch them
grow up into adults,” she said. “Tey tell me that skating helped them in life. Talk about a feel-good.” As a coach she’s nervous but confident standing at the boards, knowing she prepared her students well. Te nerves come from not be- ing in control, but the calm comes from knowing even with excellent preparation, skaters can have a bad day.
She continues to be inspired by skating and the positive life lessons all sports provide. Carruthers Con- rad said she’s a bit disappointed by some of the things she no longer sees since the implementation of the in-
ternational judging system, such as long spread eagles like those Brian Boitano performed. She misses the beauty that was in skating. Asked to name current skaters
who impress her, she said Olympic and World champion ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White. “Tey are just so amazing,” she
said. “Tey really changed the sport in my opinion. “Jason Brown seems to connect
with the audience and that is a Scott Hamilton-like quality that is rarely seen anymore. People have fallen in love with him because he connects with them and makes them feel like they’re a part of his performance.” When asked how U.S. pairs can
reach the international success that ice dance has, Carruthers Conrad points to the longevity of Davis and White’s partnership and said teams need to stay together. As for her own skating high- lights, the 1984 Olympics are an ob- vious choice. Her professional stand- out also involves “Sarajevo,” a 1992 Stars on Ice tribute to the city. Carruthers Conrad’s mother,
Maureen, still lives in the family’s New England home but spends long stretches of time with her and Peter — relishing watching her grandchil- dren grow up. Social media provides a great
opportunity to stay connected with skating friends and fans old and new. “I call Twitter bragging because
most of the time I’m tweeting about my family or a charity event I’m in- volved in,” she said. “It’s fun to keep up with everybody.”
SKATING 9
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