Ever since
Luke was born, I’ve been on a mission. I take photos of everything. This only
intensified when we had Liam. I have the world’s worst memory, so I attempted
to take a picture of every moment that I wanted to remember. What I’ve learned
along the way is that photos do help, but some memories don’t necessarily need
photo documentation to be recalled, they must be burned in my mind somehow. I
think Saturday night is one.
We attended the wedding of Todd and Jill. Todd is one of Chris’s cousins and I’ve known him since he was six. It was an amazing wedding and reception. Even so, around 9:30 pm, Luke and Liam told me they were ready to go, they were exhausted. I was grateful that the hotel rooms were in the same hotel as the reception, Chris was with his brother, so the boys and I headed to the room. Immediately upon arriving in the room, I sensed one boy – who will remain nameless here – was sad. When pressed, he admitted that he had wanted to dance, but didn’t know how.
It’s interesting
to me that as we age, we become more censored. Both of my kids were willing to
dance in front of anyone growing up. At family dinners we were often treated to
them jumping around and dancing as we ate. Apparently as they have grown they’ve
worried they don’t dance “right”, whatever right may be.
I looked
over quickly and explained that the only thing you need to dance is the desire
to actually do just that – dance. No one knows what they’re doing, they just
move to the music however makes them happy, and that’s it. I asked if they
wanted to go back to the reception, and both shook their heads. They really
were beat. So then, I grabbed my iPhone, turned on shuffle, jumped off the bed,
and invited them both to dance.
It took some convincing, but after a few seconds our hotel room was a dance party. While timid at first, both kids warmed up and were dancing up a storm. We talked, danced, and sang. Ten minutes later, we collapsed, laughing, on the bed. No photos are needed for this memory, it is firmly implanted on my heart.
It took some convincing, but after a few seconds our hotel room was a dance party. While timid at first, both kids warmed up and were dancing up a storm. We talked, danced, and sang. Ten minutes later, we collapsed, laughing, on the bed. No photos are needed for this memory, it is firmly implanted on my heart.
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