Every Day's A Blessing: Dance On

Today was the first day of our dance competition season. We started off slow - Ava only had one dance to perform, her quartet. I don't remember if I've ever described this dance. Ava is dancing with another girl her age and two of the older girls to the Taylor Swift song "Never Grow Up." it is such a sweet dance showing the special relationship between these older and younger girls. It will never get top marks for difficulty or technique, and today being their first performance on stage it was pretty rough around the edges, but the emotion was there, and I enjoyed every second of watching my daughter glow on stage.

Just as the day was fun and exciting, it was also bittersweet. Today marked our first competition without Everett Allan, the younger brother of Ava's friend Molly who passed away last November. We were all very aware of the missing wheelchair at the back of the auditorium. This competition, however, is a very special one. It is called the Power of Dance, and each dance studio chooses an organization to raise money for through their dancing. Every winner earns money for their chosen charity. Our studio chose to raise money for research for the disorder Ev died from. The Allan's made angel pins for all of us to wear, and the girls were all very aware that they were not just dancing for the audience in the auditorium, but their special angel cheerleader.

The best part of the day came first when Everett's sisters Natalie and Molly danced a duet in Ev's memory. It was phenomenal - they danced it beautifully without faltering once. As for those of us watching, I don't think there was a dry eye in the house. Later on during the award ceremony Natalie and Molly were recognized for having the most moving dance of the day. The director of the competition brought the girls center stage, and had our studio's director come up as well. He presented the studio with a special trophy - it had a flame on top, and was called an eternal flame trophy for us to always remember Everett. In addition they gave our studio a scholarship in Everett's name. It was so beyond special - we all held Ev so close to our hearts, but to have this competiton recognize him in such a special way was remarkable. It was an amazing kickoff to our dance season. Through heavy hearts these girls danced on. We still miss Everett but continue to live our lives each day and celebrate the impact he had on our dance family.