Monday Morning Memories

The Ballet Recital

When Mr. Marvelous and I married over twenty-seven years ago, he inherited a treasure trove.  I came with nieces and nephews.  At the time we married there were a total of six with two more on the way.  Four of these (and one of the ones on the way) belonged to my sisters.  For several years my sisters and I lived within a triangle that went from Macon to Warner Robins to Americus and we frequently got together either at each others' homes or at the Mennonite restaurant in Montezuma.  Montezuma may not have been exactly central, but Yoder's Deitsch Haus Restaurant is so good we pretended like it was.

As I said, Mr. Marvelous inherited nephews and nieces.  This was an entirely new experience for him.  There is an eight-year gap between Mr. Marvelous and his younger sister, and his cousins were all considerably older than him, so he was not used to having little ones around.  Which brings us to the matter of:

The Ballet Recital

Shortly after we married, one of these nieces ~ who was not quite four years old ~ was taking ballet lessons.  One day I mentioned to Mr. Marvelous that I would be going to Americus the following Saturday.  He said he did not have plans for that Saturday, so he thought he would go with me.  I assured him that it was not necessary for him to go along since I was going over for The Ballet Recital (I was used to little ones.  I knew what "The Ballet Recital" meant!).  He said he thought that would be fun and he would go with me.  I gently tried to dissuade him, I really did.  I was flattered that he wanted to be with me and spend time with my family, but I (to myself) did not think he had the patience for The Ballet Recital.  He insisted.  I gave in.

Saturday morning found us on the road enjoying a lovely Spring drive to Americus.  We arrived in plenty of time, met my sister and brother-in-law and the baby and went in to find a seat.  We visited a little with the family, met a few of their friends who were sitting around us and also had daughters in The Ballet Recital, and settled in for an afternoon of.......well let's just call it eye-opening-enrichment, shall we?

The first class came out on the stage.  The Ballet Recital began with the very littlest dancers.  Mr. Marvelous' interest began to wane.  The first class left to enthusiastic applause and the next class came out.  His interest continued to wane.  They left to enthusiastic applause and the next class came out.  His interest waned even further.  Mr. Marvelous actually began to slip down in his seat.  When our niece's class came out he perked up in expectation.  That did not last long.  He says now that there were at least fifteen different classes (each class did 2-3 dances) and it lasted for three hours.  Periodically I would glance over to find him looking at me with a horrified expression.

As things wound down, the final class came out on stage.  These were the "big girls".  They began to dance and Mr. Marvelous began to perk up.  As their performance went on, he sat up a little straighter in his seat.  Toward the end he leaned over to me and began to point out one of the dancers in this last class who, in his words, had real potential; he thought that with work she might go somewhere with this dancing-thing.

I leaned over.  "Honey", I whispered, "That's the teacher".

He has never gone to another recital of any kind. Ever.

Thankfully, our only child is a son.

I can hardly wait to watch him with Grand-daughters!

Sadly I have no pictures of her in her tutu, but this is one of my favorite pictures of one of my favorite ballerinas, who was also one of my flower-girls.

She is a little (!) older now.
She is still gorgeous.