Vicariously

I was born on St. Patrick's Day.

I have an Irish name.

For my birthday,

as I was growing up,

my Mom

always made a green cake

with a shamrock outlined in

those tiny silver balls.

But I was told that we have no

Irish ancestry.

I was Danish (lots)

and Welsh

and English.

It was heart-breaking to me

although I loved the

Danish-Welsh-English

mixture.

I felt Irish.

Every year my birth was celebrated

in an Irish-sort-of-way.

And when the fiddle would play

and the bodhran would beat

I would feel my

not-Irish-blood

dance.

About 12 years ago

I was searching in a huge book

of genealogy my Mom put together

and I found names I didn't know

with birthplaces in

Ireland.

I slammed the book shut

and sat there with my mind whirling

not knowing what to think

about this wonderful discovery.

I DID have Irish blood!

I knew it.

I knew it had to be true.

Now I had to find that page again

in the book.

What if I hadn't really read it correctly?

What if I couldn't find it?

But I found the page

and I read it over and over.

I'm Irish!!

(Maybe only a fingernail's worth. But still...)

My daughter,

Miss Abbie,

is doing what my old Irish bones will not.

In addition to her ballet class

she is also learning the

ways of the Irish step dance.

I love to watch her dance to the

music of the fiddle and the bodhran

that plays in her blood.

Twinkle Toes

On Saturday Abbie hit the Big Time.

She has been taking a satellite dance class this year through the University of Utah, and Saturday her class went to Kingsbury Hall to perform one of their dances with other classes involved in the program.

It was quite a thrilling experience for all the girls.

This is a blurry picture, but it captures the interior of the hall from the stage.

The girls did a warm-up in their street clothes, mostly so they could get a feel for the stage.

I have a real problem with most of the dance classes that are offered for girls these days. I don't approve of all the hoochie-koo moves that girls are doing. I think it is wrong for girls to do such suggestive dancing, and that is why I haven't had Abbie in any dance classes until now.

These classes are very expressive and creative and joyful and girls of all shapes and sizes were dancing-- looking and feeling beautiful. 

Even this quick rehearsal was pretty cool.

The big thrill was the dressing rooms under the stage, with the extra thrill of lighted make-up mirrors!

A quick photo of all the girls before they went on stage...

and then they danced their hearts out. I wasn't able to take pictures during the performance, but I sat there with tears in my eyes because it was just so cool!

It was a very joyful afternoon.