8:02 a.m. - Sunday, May. 09, 2004
Watching the children dance
Saturday evening I attended the wedding of a friend of our family. The gentlemen began as a client with our Real Estate company and became a dear friend, later introducing us to the women who had become his fiance. We then formed an even closer friendship with that young woman.
(For reasons I won't go into, that wedding should really have been postponed)
Naturally, the bride looked stunning in her gown, and the groom was dashing (if a bit drunk... ok, more than a bit).
The ceremony was beautiful... and very short. (I don't think he was able to stand up for much longer than that.)
While all the guests started in on the appetizers, the DJ and assistant (I guess that's what he was) moved all the chairs out of the way (as it was all in one building, both ceremony and reception), to make a dance floor and set out tables. As more space was cleared, there was a young girl, one of the flower girls, who got up and started dancing.
I don't think she was more than 6 years old. Still in her white formal gown, hopping around and swaying to the music. This little girl had obviously memorized some MTV Video dance routine, and she was gettin' down.
I couldn't take my eyes off her. Grown ups walked by, some pointed, some laughed. Others "awww'd". Still others rolled their eyes and ignored her. But no one else got out on the dance floor.
For the next hour, this little girl let out all her moves on that dance floor. Sometimes joined by a little boy or two, close to her age, but mostly all by herself.
The DJ finally got around to announcing the Bride & Groom's dance, (this was a very backwards wedding, lemmie tellya) but even after that - the dancefloor remained empty but for that little Flower Girl and the two boys.
Watching them, all I could think was, "How did I lose that?"
As children, we don't care what others think of us. We just let go of everything and run. Dance. Fly. We close our eyes and fall back knowing there's someone there to catch us, be it Momma, Daddy, Brother, or Best Friend.
We take our minds off "what if they laugh", and we do what makes us happy.
I found myself wondering how to get back to that. How to once again find that quality of life.
Will I ever be able to let it all go, throw my head back, my arms wide and just soar...
Or will I forever stand in the background... watching the children dance.
~Bye~
