Dance Family

We finally made it - Recital Day! Ava and I arrived at the high school where the recital took place at 11am, and finally were driving home about 10:30pm. Ava and Ben did great, as always, and everything seemed to go as smoothly as could be expected.

As we were getting ready to leave, there was a bit of commotion. Three of the girls we have become very close to are moving dance studios over the summer. They are older than Ava by a few years and not in her same group, but they are close friends just the same. As we entered the dressing room to gather our things, many of the older girls were just SOBBING. I think much of that can be attributed to it being 10pm and the girls being beyond exhausted, but just the same they were all very sad to be saying good-bye to their friends. (Nevermind they're not actually MOVING anywhere - there's no reasoning with an exhausted and emotional tween.) Ava was doing fine, sitting coloring while I cleaned up a bit. Then about 15 minutes later, she suddenly runs up to me, bawling herself. I guess she was left alone with her thoughts for too long and realized how sad she would be too. As I'm hugging her, one of her friends Casey came up to hug her good-bye. She ended up making an Ava sandwich with me, hugging the both of us. A few seconds later Ava's other friend Avery came over too to join the teary hug. And I have to be honest, for as irrational as it all seemed, I found I had tears in my eyes too. These girls were just so heart-broken, it was hard not to get caught up in it.

And that's when I realized again just how blessed we've been to find not just a dance studio, but a dance FAMILY. These are families that we have shared holidays, birthdays, and many random nothing days with. We hear of our kids' successes and struggles. The guys all bond over being the fathers of daughters, and we moms embrace our Diva Dance Mom titles. These ladies helped break me in to the madness that is being a company dance mom, showing me the ropes and always being willing to lend a helping hand (and the occasional glass of wine). I didn't ever have close friends when I danced. I got along with the people in my dance classes, but we never saw each other outside of class. My parents certainly had no emotional ties to the studio or the people there. Over the last two years these people have truly become our family. And like family, the Rubys and Gilsons better believe that they can change dance studios, but they aren't getting rid of the Sewards that easy, and we will continue to see them and share in their lives for many years to come.