Baby M

 Is this for real......?  Can't be!!

How......?   

Where.....?  

Who is this most delightful visitor?

What is it about this tiny little person that can melt the hardest heart, bring the mighty to their knees and create an immediate reverance amongst beasts or mankind?  

How can she do this...?  How can she emotionally destroy us without making a sound?  I do not know other than that she is not of this world.  The world can create many beautiful things, but it can't create the unique and special aura and heavenly awe of a newborn baby. 

No....this gift only comes from one place, and it isn't here.

How does she capture  my gaze so instantly and intently.  She isn't even trying..... She knows not what she does.  If she is in the room all living things are drawn to her like a powerful magnetic draws metal.  We turn off the TV. We find soft music, We drop what we are doing because all other tasks become irrelevant when this little princess shows up. We want to change the environment to suit the royalty that she is.

Completely helpfless......, yet commands control completely!  What is this power that she wields so innocently that affects all.  She is no respecter of persons, she is willing to share it all with anyone and willing to absorb any affection and love from anyone as well.  She depends upon it.  It is her nourishment, and she reflects it back in spades!  We, the observer gets the best part of that trade for sure.

One single little coo can send her mom into the stratosphere!  What happens when she figures out her first smile..... game over! It's like a little heart attack that jolts ones' heart.

To think that our Father in Heaven would grant this unexplainable experience that only He understands the totality of, with us.  Maybe this is one of the only ways that we can relate to Him, by sharing a tiny glimpse of how He feels about each one of us..... times a trillion!

What do I see when I look at Miller......

She is selfless.........she is pure light..........Yes, she is perfection personified

In the prettiest package that could ever be presented.  

Pink suits her just fine, no?

Miller, you have already done what you were supposed to do -- completely change our hearts and remind us of who we are and why we are here.  

All hail to Baby M.

If you were here today......

If you were here today..... 

Here is what you wouldn't do first.....

• Clean the kitchen
• Sweep the floor
• Cast a glancing eye at the dust here and there
• Roll your eyes at the McDonald's bag on the counter

These never were your strengths and thank Heaven they weren't, even though you spent a lifetime worrying over them.  I am glad they really didn't matter in the end.....

Here is what you would do instead: 

• You would be anxious to hear the kids sing and dance, (only you would be able to get them to do it too!) 

• You wouldn't be able to restrain the urge to teach them something along the way as well, some dance move, or encouragement for something artistic. 

• You would "ooh" and "ahh" no matter what they did and you would make them feel like it was the most beautiful thing you had ever seen.

• You would tell them the stories of how you would dance as a little girl with your sisters for the troops during WWII and how the soldiers would throw pennies on the stage which you loved!

• You would tell them to smile and shine all the time

• You would squeeze every detail of worth out of each moment

• You wouldn't dare leave without letting each know of their infiinte worth and potential and how the Lord would bless them.

• You would make each one of them feel so unique and special.

• You would give them each a breathless tight hug, as if it would be your last....  

They would feel your excitement and enthusiasm for true and free expression....  They would start practicing the minute you left for the next visit.

As I play the film in my mind's eye, it is so clear and vivid that it is as if you really were here.  I know the script, I can hear the dialogue, I know all the camera angles, yes...even when to zoom in on a particular moment. 

Predictable plot?  Oh yes!, but always special. 

I know the beginning, middle and end.... oh, the ends were so hard...the longing looks, the hugs that didn't need to be so tight, but were anyway.  

Your film is perfect, always re-watchable, always in technicolor, always ending with a lump in the throat.

Keep dancing Mom, never stop and thank you for that lasting legacy....... abraco,

Happy Mothers Day 

  

Finishing Positions

Accidentally came across this on FB today... on my brother's page...... It is my Mom, in her teens doing hula. The skirt was made from soft rope sent her by her brother Milo from the Philippines while he was in the service. If I haven't mentioned it before, Mom was a professional dancer and teacher. She taught dance to hundreds of people all throughout the world all different styles of dance. My love of dance came from her love and passion for dance....

She put on more shows than you can count.  She loved the idea of performance -- not to show off, or to please her ego of the "guru" teacher, rather it was to show beauty.  She knew that her students wouldn't understand this lesson unless they performed.  Performance was to build their confidence to do something new and to take that beauty into their lives.  To create something beautiful and to share it with others. She understood that but probably never articulated it that way.....it was always built in to the dance itself.  The audience was also a benefactor by receiving that gift of performance.  To be inspired, to cause emotion, to feel the spirit....

So, me, being the audience of this photo, was completely caught off guard and wasn't prepared to receive the emotional wave of "saudade" that came over me. I had never in my life seen this picture of her before... How can one single perfect stance cause such a stir in my soul?

I was struck by her youthfulness and commitment to her craft. I always knew she loved Dance, but I never understood how much she loved "to" dance..... I knew it, but I realized I never saw her actually dance, other than with Dad informally.  So, it was always Mom the dance "teacher" never the "performer". This simple and oh so elegant photo is exquisite to me.

She always talked about the "details" of dance....like how the arms, hands and fingers were supposed to be positioned. She was a great believer in "follow through" with every dance step or motion. She was all about the total finished and polished ends of dance, not just the steps in between that got you through the dance. I can't remember how many times she would talk and teach these "finishing" principles to her students...(which more often included her kids than others...) 

Mom was not a great orator, speaker or communicator. Expressive, creative and enthusiastic..? Oh yes... but she struggled for the words at times off the dance floor.  The principles were the same regardless...she always taught us about doing the "basics" in life....like cleaning our rooms, dressing with clean clothes, brushing our teach, wearing good shoes, and "finishing" what we started..... she loved and respected people who "followed through". She wanted her kids to live their best lives.

It is so ironic that only now, as I see this photo that I realize that what she taught in Dance class was what she taught us in life.  She wanted us to "end well" not just get through, but to do the basic things that would help us be successful later, to reach our full potential....or in other words to "finish" life's dance with the right positions. She knew that if we could get the basics down pat, then the little nuances of a finger position, a crook of the neck etc... would complete the dance and bring the full performance to perfection.... which I am sure she hoped would be mirrored in our lives.


So, what caught my eye dramatically when I saw this picture? ........It was the absolutely perfect right arm position. The elbow turned so gracefully with a completely "finished" right hand and finger position.....So beautiful and simple it gave me chills.

...She actually "KNEW" what she was talking about... she knew it because she felt it inside and made it apart of her. She never danced sloppily or lazily.....and she didn't want me living my life any differently.... To think she knew this at such a very young age was special. It took my breath away to see her arm, hand and fingers this way for the very first time in my life, only now....ironically,  so many years after she is gone.

I realized in this moment, that I thought Mom was teaching the world to dance, but I realize now that she was teaching us all how to live.

With tears streaming down my face I find myself wanting to let her know that now I know what she meant....... about finishing, ......about doing the basic little details that will ultimately complete the dance of life she had given me. I feel that I now have to reflect on my life and see if I am finishing in a way that she would be pleased with and following through will all the "steps" she taught me...... She left a legacy of her life that far surpassed her greatest performance on stage. She was a consumate artist, but she knew in the end, what was most important were finishing life's and God's steps and movements..... She "finished" her life's dance in perfect dance position and that has made all the difference to me.....

......Mom, I never missed you more than right now.