For 14 years, you and I were bonded together like two peas in a pod by one thing that we imagined we would always share: the unexplainable, uncontainable love for dancing.
At age three in a creative movement class, we met and instantly clicked. (OK, maybe it was just like, "Hey, you're wearing pink and so am I! Let's be best friends!" but I mean, come on, that's the best childhood connection of all time.) Our days quickly became filled with tutus, glitter and long dance recitals that our parents had to sit through just to see us dance for two minutes in.
At age 5, we moved to the big leagues. Competition. These days were filled with long rehearsals at the studio to perfect two minute and 30-second routines--you only get one chance on stage -- and lots and lots of rhinestones. We thought life couldn't get any better. Sleepovers consisted of choreographing dance routines to Hannah Montana songs and finding costumes in our closets, and then forcing our parents to watch them. (Sorry, Mom and Dad!)
As we started to grow up, around age 10, we saw that things could get difficult. I had to decide if where I was happened to be the right place for me, and when it wasn't, I had to move. We lost touch for a long period of time and, although we still loved dance, we weren't together. That definitely put a damper on things.
Then one day, out of the blue, you walked into the new studio and all was right with the world again. The dynamic duo was back at it!
We went through a lot of stuff together. The longest rehearsals and the fear that homework wouldn't get done until 3 a.m. was the highest priority on normal days. We went through friends leaving and deciding dance wasn't right for them, an insane amount of sore muscles, and even the death of a close friend.
Dancing by your side made the sore muscles and long rehearsals more bearable, 'cause I had someone who would laugh and share the thing I loved most with me.
For 14 whole years we went through this, and then senior year finally came.
As bittersweet as it was, it was mostly bitter. OK, that's a lie, it was really sweet.
It was sad because we weren't sure what the future would hold, but we learned to cherish every moment more than the last.
Finally, the day came: the day you decided to stop dancing and move on to things you wanted to do more than dance.
I get it, I do. You have to look out for yourself and make the choices that are going to let you be happiest in the end. Although it left me dancing in college by myself, I understand it.
It's hard that we're not going through the sore, the tired, the blood, sweat, and tears together anymore. It might have been my favorite part about dancing with you--I had someone to share it with.
But I know that, in the end, you will always love dancing just as much as I do, even if you're not doing it anymore. It was quite possibly one of the most important periods of your life, all the things we learned as kids most likely came from the studio setting because we spent so much time there.
Dancing brought us together, and it's never going to make us separate. It'll always be the glue that holds us together.
And when I need to watch a recital, competition, or dance movie marathon, I still know who to call.
