by Eric Comley
She went to her last practice tonight. For the last 11 years, an innumerable amount of miles driven from Lancaster to Lexington each week to place Addison solely in the possession of her dance instructors and the incredible number of dancers who have come in and out of her life. Along the way, under the guidance of some of the best people out there (Hailey, Brooke, Allison, Amelia, and all of the others), she thrived. She made friends. Sara and I made friends. They aren't going anywhere, but this part is done. Addison has retired.
Dance was the original objective, but she accomplished so much more. She became poised, strong, thoughtful, caring, sensitive, determined, mindful, organized, and quietly confident. McTeggart Irish Dancers - Kentucky became a home. Sara and I were supremely confident that Addison would be cared for and loved in obvious ways, but we also knew she would be challenged. Be a good dancer. Be a better person.
I loved watching her dance, but, probably like most Dads, I never understood. Ball over fence, in hoop, in net, or across goal line, and I had a chance of understanding, but dance left me befuddled. She would step off of the stage and tell us all the ways she messed up and then would score really well. She would be on stage and look like an angel and she would be near the bottom. The fragile life of a competitive Irish Dancer. As a Dad, your only job was to stand there with your arms open for her to run to or fall into. I didn't go enough. I wanted dance to be about Addison and Sara.
Sara loved it. There was a routine in those competitions and the make-up, dress, wigs, shoes, tanning, socks, tape, and all of the other accoutrements of the dance world were right in Sara's wheelhouse. Strong-willed Mom and strong-willed daughter found common ground in early morning preparation and finding new ways to be somehow simultaneously nice and sassy to one another. They are travel buddies. Ohio, Indiana, Georgia, Missouri, and other states were landing spots for the traveling dance show. Addison may never understand how much it meant to Sara to be a part of all of her dance life. Sara loves her in subtle and silent ways. Dance was that connection. Tonight was the last practice.
We will miss all of the things that came with the regularly scheduled pauses in our lives to witness a little girl in a beautiful dress dance across a plywood stage by herself or in the midst of hundreds of people. I am sure she will still randomly click her heels for no reason or have to explain Irish Dance only to be met with, "Like River Dance?" In one of the first videos from the class at the Danville Arts Center, Addison got to the mirror, turned, skipped a step, and followed the teacher back to do it all over again. She was hooked. Thank you to Irish Dance for doing good things for our kid.
Thank you instructors, dance parents, friends, parents, grandparents, and all of the others for cheering for Addison along the way.