First of all, thanks again everyone!
Second, it was a real hassle trying to find skates. My foot is a 4E width. The rentals at the rinks were all too narrow. I went to several hockey places, and there was nothing that fit. But one store was good enough to size my foot for skates, made a few recommendations, then I started ordering online. I had to return a few skates, but I found a pair of Bauer's (Flexlite 3.0) that came in a wide, and they fit.
Classes began this weekend. I was absolutely awful! Couldnt let go of the wall and to skate, I was pushing off on the wall with my hand and just shuffling feet. I was disappointed because the class size is maybe 10 people, and I am the only person in Adult 1, while the others had all been through Adult 2 class. So I am basically on my own as the instructor was working with the others in the center of the rink. Anyhow, I did go to a different rink today where they had open skating, and I practiced for 3 hours. About 90 minutes in, I began taking my hand off the wall for a few seconds. And on my final couple laps around the rink, I twice made it from the red goalie line on one side of the rink to the other side of the rink with only touching the wall once or twice for balance.
Some of my lessons learned: I thought that skates would "bite" the ice for traction, but I quickly found out that was not the case. Go slow, it helps with balance. Concentrate - the harder I focused on doing things correctly, the more in control I was. Finally, I also was concentrated on slightly bending knees like the post said above. It did help.
So while I was greatly discouraged in class, the 3 hour open skate today gave me a glimmer of hope that as long as I pratice alot, I might one day be able to skate a lap one day without holding onto the wall or falling.