I Hope You Dance by LeAnn Womack is one of my favorite songs, in fact, I have "I hope you dance" tattooed on my foot.

But, the reason for this tattoo is not solely for my love of the song, it is mainly because these are words my grandma repeated to me over the years, mostly in facebook comments over the more recent years.

A few weeks ago an article of mine about reflecting on a loss I had a year ago was published. What I didn't know when I was writing that article is that four days later my world would be turned upside down, yet again, with the loss of my grandma.

I have spent weeks trying to find the words to explain how I feel, but there are no words to describe the pain, so instead I will write about the song I love so much and my promise to my grandma that I will always keep dancing.

I hope you never lose your sense of wonder,
You get your fill to eat but always keep that hunger,
May you never take one single breath for granted

I've always been very curious, some of my first words were "what's that?" and I will always keep my sense of wonder, never straying from wanting to know more around me. I promise that I will keep a hunger and drive for life and for my passions. From now on, I will never, not once, take a breath for granted. We only get so long to be curious, to be hungry, to breathe. You were always so curious about your heritage and you lived your life in the best way you could and I will continue to do the same.

Livin' might mean takin' chances but they're worth takin',
Lovin' might be a mistake but it's worth makin',
Don't let some hell bent heart leave you bitter,
When you come close to sellin' out reconsider

I am not someone who takes a lot of chances, I stick close to the book, but losing you made me realize that life is short and if I never take any chances, I won't have any stories to tell. I promise to live my life and make it worthwhile, so that one day I'll have stories to tell like you did. If anything, you were not afraid to show your love, even after all that love had put you through. I can only hope that I can be like you and never let my love for my family and friends waver, even when it would be so much easier to let some hell bent leave me bitter. I promise that I will always stay true to myself, I will be the person you saw in me. I won't sell myself out for anyone or anything. I will be the granddaughter you raised.

I hope you still feel small when you stand beside the ocean,
Whenever one door closes I hope one more opens,
Promise me that you'll give faith a fighting chance,

No matter where I go or who I become, I will always remember that I am no better than anyone else. In your eyes, I could do no wrong, but I know you would never want me to think I was above anyone else. When a door closes, I won't give up, I will find another open door, I will keep going. I won't give up on my faith, even in times like this, when I don't understand why something happened.

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance.

Dance....I hope you dance.

And most importantly, I will always choose to dance, literally or figuratively. I will no longer sit it out. I promise that I will always keep dancing. I will not sit my life out, I will not live in fear of failure, nor will I live in fear of making a fool of myself. Your words will stick with me for the rest of my life.

Losing you is the worst heartache I have ever felt. It made my world stop, it made me want to stop, but I know you'd want me to keep moving and dancing. Like you said, you are always by my side even when I can't see you. It may take me a little time to get back into my groove, but I won't stray from the beat for too long. Thank you for all the lessons you taught me, most importantly this one. I hope that one day I'll be dancing with you again.