Before The Show

Yesterday, Edie had her ballet recital.

She wasn't nervous. In fact, she was giddy. And unlike last year when David and I had to be recital helpers so one of us could always stay near her, something she demanded, this year we sat in the audience. And Edie went with her class. She sat with them through the whole show. She went backstage with them and her teacher. She walked onto the stage without us nearby in the wings.

When we checked on her at intermission, she smiled, waved, and then turned back around to talk to the little girl sitting next to her in the same identical billowy dress. Not one bit of her needed us. She was so this other girl, one I'm just starting to know - confident at her core, sure of who she is, unafraid, comfortable in a path she chose for herself.

I thought when this day came, I'd be sad. Maybe I'd feel like I lost something. But I'm just so unimaginably proud of her. These pictures are of Edie before her show, just moments after she put on the dress, and pointed her toes, and turned from girl to ballerina.

xo YM