Vanessa is my 4 year old niece. On June 9th she had her very first dance recital. It really meant a lot for me to be there for her since my Aunt Diane (died at age 31 when I was 8) was there for me and my dance recitals. I can clearly remember her walking up to the stage to give me flowers, just like I intended to do for Vanessa.
Anyway, I drove up to my brother's house with my parents before the show. It was up in Bergen County somewhere...very far from home! Chuck (my oldest brother) showed us a tape of her dress rehearsal which was the Thursday before. It was so cute watching a group of like 15 4year olds who had no clue what they were doing. The costumes were adorable, white feathers hanging off the sequins. During the video, the girls started ripping the feathers off of each others costumes! Parents started to yell because they were like $80 and they still had to wear them for the show. The group of girls got together for a picture with a photographer, and the girl next to Vanessa started to cry. Vanessa looked at her and gave her a face, then looked down and was horrified! She made the funniest face ever...the little girl had an accident on the floor.
Saturday...I was annoyed. I wanted to go see Vanessa so badly and bring her flowers, but I knew that I was letting other people down. I was supposed to go to work that day...postponed it, and also Christine's bridal shower (I am SO SORRY!) It was hot as hell, we had a long ass ride up North, and I had a headache (so what else is new~my new BFF is Bayer). To make a long story short, I became crankier when this man sat right in front of me in the auditorium with his BIG HEAD! I had to constantly look around him, probably pissing off the old folks behind me.
Vanessa was Act #16 out of 47! There were acts added into the show that weren't in the program. I heard an awesome song that I would want to buy and can't because it wasn't on the program. Great! Add that to my list. (Sorry. My A.D.D was kicking in again, I know I was rambling) So, her group came out on stage and everybody was "AAAHHHHING" at how adorable they looked. Vanessa's little dance partner refused to finish the dance where they have to hold hands and spin. Vanessa danced by herself and then she stopped and started to crouch down. I instantly thought that she was having an accident like the little girls she was making faces at on the video. Music stopped. Little girls ran off the stage to make room for the next act. Except Vanessa REFUSED to leave the stage. She was on there and you can see hands from behind the curtain trying to call her off. Everybody in the audience was laughing. The teacher had to come out and take her by the hand as she skipped and waved and blew the audience kisses. OH BOY!!! We tease my bro all the time because she loves to be naked, in high heels, and dances! All that's missing is a pole! As I watched her leave the stage, I got all choked up and teary eyed thinking about how I don't want to miss out on her growing up and I know I was where I needed to be that day. I miss my aunt everyday and still think about her. I don't want to regret anything. My little girl is growing up too fast!
