Kitten Watch Update: June 23

A personal wedding highlight was watching Abby and her humans dance at the reception. This kid started dancing with several of these women when she was five years old. She was TERRIFIED. Absolutely frozen solid on stage. Stiff as a board. Wide eyed. Rigid with fright. I thought, “OK. Fine. This is not her thing. We’ll try other activities.” But no. Nope. No. She would hear no word of quitting. She HAD found her thing, she informed me, and a tiny thing like terror was not going to stop her. So, again…OK. Fine. We waded further into the dance world. Competitions. Conventions. Performing companies. And I will tell you, there was a part of me that saw all the rhinestone bras and false eyelashes and fire engine red lipstick and was all 😳, you know? Agog is the word. Maybe a touch aghast. Because it was NOT the world in which I was raised. It was wilder and freer and more comfortable with bodies and it took me a while to get it. To really understand what need it fulfilled in my child. But then I watched her confidence grow. And her work ethic deepen. I watched her learn who she is—where to bend and where to remain immovable. I watched her find camaraderie and discover dedication. I watched her push through obstacles and refuse to accept the status quo. And I thought, “Oh.” Oh, THIS is what she was drawn to. THIS is what she saw. THIS is why terror never stood a chance. Because she knew all along there was something more important than fear. Life. Joy. Growth. Friends. So if I was a little teary Saturday watching my baby girl dance alongside her best friends… humans who saw her from kindergarten through college and now beyond… humans who spent months and years honing their craft together… humans who have laughed and cried together, who’ve loved and lost together, who’ve challenged and championed each other…well, who can blame me? ❤️