Hello and welcome to Best Of Maclean’s.

At 43, I started skateboarding. Then I went viral on Tik-Tok.

“If I can inspire somebody to try something unconventional and have fun doing it, then I’m living the dream” By Oorbee Roy.

I started skateboarding after decades of watching my husband blow off steam in the skatepark after work. I’ve always found his hobby cool, but I never considered joining him—I thought I’d probably fall flat on my face and make a fool of myself.

Five years ago, my son and daughter, who were then five and seven, started skateboarding with their dad. We would go to the skatepark as a family, and I would stand by the halfpipes watching them and thinking: I don’t want to be on the sidelines for the rest of my life.

I think I surprised my husband when I told him I wanted to skate with the family. It’s not that I don’t like trying new things—I did a lot of weightlifting when I was younger and was a bit of an adrenalin junkie. But I lost that adventurous spirit when I became an adult. After graduating high school in New Jersey, I got my computer science degree, moved to New York and got a job on Wall Street. Work became my life. In 2007, I moved to Toronto, and spent most of my thirties building and running a home furnishing and baby clothing business. After I had kids, I felt like there was no time for me to try new things.

That changed once both my kids started school. 

Continue reading

On newsstands now: 

The Year Ahead: Our Guide to 2023

Read expert predictions on what’s to come in 2023 in health-care, food, entertainment, housing and more! 

Also in this issue: 

• A revealing interview with Supreme Court Justice Michelle O’Bonsawin
• A new kind of solar panel that just might change the world and the Canadian teen who invented it
• Inside the A-Frame cabin of your dreams

Check it out