As I have said to Danny and Mr. Peterson many times throughout the 2014-15 season: “This is the longest – shortest season of my life!”

Many times since my surgery, 8.5 months ago, it seemed like we weren’t going to have a competitive “season” at all. I struggled heavily dealing with our early season competition withdrawals and it hit me like a brick when we had to pull out of our first two Grand Prix events. The three of us made every decision with both my health and our longevity as a team in mind. I tried to convince myself that those competitions wouldn’t be our last and, luckily, they weren’t.

Four months after my surgery, we competed in Croatia. Another month and a half later, we won the bronze medal (and our first) at the 2015 U.S. National Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina. This bronze truly was beautiful, as it won us a spot to compete at the Four Continents Championships in South Korea – just 6 months after a major surgery to my landing leg. Our short but sweet competition season was not all fun and games, but the reward was certainly worth the risk and recovery.

As for right now, I’m back at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, where I did some of my rehabilitation after surgery. Thankfully, this time there are no crutches involved and instead of learning how to walk again, I’m learning how to regain the strength I lost so we can emerge as a stronger team in the months to come. While I am here, I am catching up with the athletes who helped me work through the mental aspect of my surgery and I am also regularly getting my butt kicked in ping pong and foosball by Nathan Chen – gotta have someone to keep me on my toes!

I love being at the OTC, but all the while I can’t wait to get back home to sunny Florida, where I don’t need a jacket, where my partner is working hard and where we have two new programs waiting for us to fill them with beautiful movements and even more beautiful moments.

Although I would love to take all of the credit for our comeback, Danny has been by my side through every moment, from running our programs by himself when I couldn’t skate to taking care of me after surgery. As my Grandma says, he gets the “platinum medal” for being the best partner. I would also like to thank all of our coaches, U.S. Figure Skating, the USOC, and everyone who has ever listened to me complain about how much my hip hurt. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Tarah