Newspaper Dance

            Find a partner. When the music plays, we dance to the music. When the music stops, we hold on to each other, our feet tiptoeing on that wad of newspaper. And we don't move or breathe for a moment until the music starts again.  Fold newspaper in half. Music plays again. We dance again. Music stops.  I carry your laughing, giggling body this time. You have so much fun dancing and seeing all your classmates dance that when it's time to stop, you cannot stop and you laugh. My heart, in turn, is filled with overwhelming joy. You are truly enjoying the game. And we are connecting like never before. Black Eyed Peas is blasting through the speakers, you smile all the more. We hold hands and swing and sway. Then the music stops again. This time I tiptoe on one foot while carrying you and both of us laughing our hearts out until we fall over breathless. We are out of the game. It doesn't really matter if we didn't win, we had the time of our lives.

           This was 5 days ago. But the euphoria and elation still remains with me. Garret had so much fun during his classmate's birthday party. I do not know if he understood it was a party, or if he even understands the word party, much less a birthday. But what I do know is that he was truly, truly happy. And at that time I didn't even feel the need to proclaim it to the entire world. In reflection, this dawned on me: Life is and should be like a newspaper dance. As the world spins and goes on its daily grind, we need to have a partner who we can dance with, rejoice in our joys, weep with our sorrows, and live the life Grace has given us. After all, joy and love have more meaning when multiplied, does it not? And when the world , as it seems, ceases to turn, and turns its back on us instead, we find strength in that one person, whether it is our partner, mother, father, son, daughter, cousin or friend. We hold on to them and they hold us firmly, tightly so we can hang in there, on our tiptoes. When our grief overwhelms us, they carry us and step on that tiny wad of newspaper for us.  Until the music plays again. Until our world is right side up again. Until we can finally stand on our own again. Until the music of our lives resumes its beautiful, melodious harmony. The tears finally dry and we see how life is all the more rich and majestic like it has just been redecorated and renovated just for us. And yes, it's not about winning. It's not about the end prize. It's about the process, the whole step-by-step how-to-play the game. It is about the journey. It is about how much joy we have given to other people's lives and how much joy we have, how much we appreciate and how much we celebrate our lives.  But most importantly, it is about the people we have in our lives who get us through all the rough seas, calm waters, uncanny roads and smooth highways. It is about the people we decide to love. It is about the gifts the cosmic heavens has bestowed on us--the gifts which can only be seen when we open our eyes, look at our hands and when we are intensely aware of the hands that hold us, the arms that carry us.

          This is a toast to friendship, to love, to the people to who have held me and firmly planted my feet on the ground when my world spun out of control. But most of all, this is for Garret and Morgan and to my partner, Andro who has made me hear and dance to the beautiful, beautiful music of life.