Her Turn To Dance

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Katie has sat through three of Maddie’s dance recitals.  She has spent countless hours with me in the hallway of the park district building, waiting for Maddie’s dance class to end. She has watched the videos of Maddie’s recitals and memorized the dances.  She has worn Maddie’s retired recital outfits around the house, flitting from room to room in Maddie’s old ballet shoes.

As the younger sister, Katie has been playing the waiting game.  Waiting until till she’s older, waiting for her turn, waiting for a class for her age group that fits into our schedule. Poor Katie.

Last fall, I registered Katie for ballet class.  She literally jumped with joy when I told her. Then we got a call from the park district to tell us there was a misprint in the catalog. They were sorry, but Katie was actually not old enough to take the ballet class.  They were sorry, but Katie would have to wait.  I felt my heart break in two when I told Katie.  My tears mixed with hers as I tried to hug away her sadness.

All of this is to explain why my eyes filled with tears this morning when I finally got Katie dressed for her very first ballet class.  It is why I snapped a million pictures when all the other moms just sat and watched.  It is is why Katie was the only ballerina smiling ear to ear during the entire class this morning.

Today was Katie’s day.  She finally got her turn to dance.