A Lasting Love.

Here's a little Valentine's Day post I'd like to share with you :)


I regularly take open dance classes at Broadway Dance Center, and when the semester isn't in session or I have a day off during the week, I can usually be found there in the middle of the day taking whatever I can.  One of my favorite ballet teachers teaches from 1:30-3 Tuesday through Friday, so whenever I have the opportunity I back my bag, head uptown and get into his class.  


Because I've spent so much time in that studio over the past six months or so--and because my schedule is usually fairly consistent from week to week--I've been able to witness one of the most wonderful acts of love I've ever seen firsthand, and on multiple occasions.  I've been blessed to grow up in a family full of examples of lasting love (Mom and Dad, Nana and Pop-pop, aunts and uncles, cousins and cousins-in-law) so knowing and seeing what true love is--what true love can do--as years go on isn't a new concept to me.  But as with everything, things that are familiar to us have the ability to grow stagnant.  I only mean this in the sense that these wonderful examples I have to look up to and learn from have always been in my life, so real love's presence becomes part of my daily routine...Part of my daily understanding.  


That's why being able to witness that same love by way of these strangers has been a humbling refresher.  Whenever I see them my heart feels glad and I feel grateful to be able to share the same space with them and be a recipient of the happiness that silently ripples through the air as they so honestly share in their appreciation for one another.


Here's a journal entry I wrote one day summarizing my reaction to this beautiful couple whenever I see them:




January 5, 2012


I'm back at BDC for ballet class and it feels so good! I'm expecting to be a bit stiff today so we'll just take it slow and ease back into it.  No matter what, I'm thankful to be back and am excited to work!


So every time I see this man he warms my heart!  There's an old man (70s? 80s?) whose wife takes the ballet class before the one I take.  She's also quite old, but comes to this class very regularly, which I think is really awesome and inspiring in itself.  But the coolest part is that her husband is always here with--and for--her.  Always!  I think there's only been one occasion that I can recall seeing her and not him.  While she's in the 90 minute class, he sits outside the studio on a bench quietly guarding her dance bag and valuables.  And he watches her.  And he does so with such intent and so lovingly!  Sometimes he'll close his eyes for a rest for a few minutes but he's almost always sitting there watching patiently as she goes through the all the exercises.  After barre she usually comes out for a drink of water, they exchange a few words and then she heads back into class to pick up the first center combination.  All through the second half of class she glances out the big window to him and gives him a smile or wave from time to time, and he always reciprocates.  After class when she comes out of the studio, they greet each another for real for the first time since class has started, and you can't help but recognize their adoration for one another.  She then takes her dance bag to go change out of her dance clothes, and still he waits.  By now my class has started, so as he waits for his wife to come back he remains sitting patiently in his spot and watches as ballet class starts all over again before him, this time a whole roomful of strangers doing plies and tendus.  But he watches us respectfully (and I always feel motivated to really dance through those first few barre exercises with such a wonderful audience member outside...I feel that he deserves the respect he pays us!), and when his wife comes back from the dressing room about 10 minutes later, their exit routine is always the same: she puts down her things to help him to his feet, he picks up her dance bag to carry for her, she takes him by the arm, and off they go.  It's incredibly sweet and, in my opinion, an amazingly beautiful example of real, true love.  


I wrote this journal entry while waiting for one class, but I have been watching these two work as a team since the middle of last summer.  And it's true...Every single time I see them I'm amazed more and more, because from the first time I "met" them up through now, no matter how practiced this dance studio schedule has become for them, it's the newness of their dedication to each others' company that really touches me.  He supports her by sitting through her ballet class twice a week.  In return she dances class joyfully, loving every moment and, by how I've interpreted her behavior, she seems to dedicate herself not particularly to class in the way that I would, (being a 21-year-old just on the edge of stepping into "the real world" as a professional dancer, taking each class as a new opportunity to work on technique and performance and personal approach to the art) but to the time there and with whom it's spent with.  She and him are spending this time together; no one else taking the class matters to her, and none of us in the waiting area preparing for our own classes really matter to him.  This is just another way for them to spend time together, and the love between the two is the most beautiful thing.  Even just their simple smiles and waves back and forth throughout the course of class allow you to realize the reality of their gratefulness and thankfulness for one another's company.


And on top of it all, they're consistent.  No matter what the days bring, they're always at the studio, and they're always there together.  And this is a wonderful blessing for kids like me, because I honestly feel honored to be sharing the same space as them whenever I see them, and that love that I'm so incredibly fortunate to witness stays with me throughout my day, even when my mind is filled with any and all things unrelated to this beautiful couple.  


In sharing their love with one another, they ultimately share it with all who get to see it.  


Love like that can't be beat.  Because with each passing day, week, year, with each victory and with each trial, that kind of love gains strength and wisdom.  


I hope that everyone has had a beautiful Valentine's Day today and has felt loved!  Just remember that love spans all of time; today may be the day of love according to the calendar and the card and chocolate companies, but the gift of true love--and better yet, the power true love holds--manifests itself every day, every year, day or night, in rain or shine.  


It's real. It's beautiful. And it's yours. Embrace it and share it :)