For as many years as I can remember My Daughter Lia and I have spent her birthday weekend in San Antonio. For many of those years we brought her ‘other one’ best friend Brittany with us and we stayed in the same hotel room, ate dinner at the same fancy steak house and did the same traditional San Antonio Riverwalk things. Life grew, plans changed and then My Lia turned 21. To heck with the trip to the Rivercenter Mall, The Limited and Express and bubble gum panties at Victoria Secret. To heck with getting our nails manicured and to heck with eating gummy candy and playing dress up. This year, the universe dictated the birthday celebration was meant to be absolutely different.
Ha. I had no idea. The hotel changed and we added theater tickets to our annual birthday weekend bash. And just for fun, we added in a completely spontaneous evening at Coyote Ugly. I think it was an evening at least. It was lots of hours that admittedly felt like just a few. Yes, completely spontaneous.
Coyote Ugly was our third stop. My Lia and I had been talking about playing together on the Riverwalk when she turned 21 for a long time. How fun it was going to finally be to order pretty Margareta’s together and watch the tourists walk by. Zero pressure, no phones, no manicure appointments to keep. Just two ‘girls’ having a well deserved Happy Hour. Stop one was just this. Stop two was just to check out a new wonderful place and have a much needed eye-appealing appetizer. Stop three was totally on a dare and, ‘let’s just go in check it out just for fun’ and curiosity. Lia wanted to be able to say, “I bought a shot for My Momma on my 21st birthday.” Mr. Billy Bad Ass Bouncer at the door checked My Lia’s ID and mine. Big red flag. We were in for an experience. Just one watered down shot. Promise.
Don’t know how many shots it took this old non-shot drinking Momma, but I danced. I danced with some really young guys like a cougar wanna-be in my old Momma tennis shoes. I danced like I haven’t danced in a hundred years. I danced like I was 25. I danced like I was free. I danced hanging onto the bar for dear life. I danced with my daughter. I danced all by myself. Once, I started dancing, I didn’t stop. My hips and my old broken knees, refused to let me stop moving.
I’ve tried to function the last 2 decades like dancing wasn’t important to me and like I didn’t need it. What a terrible awful lie I have been telling myself. I need to be dancing! I need to be dancing physically, spiritually and emotionally.
When is the last time you danced? When is the last time you took something you love to do off of the shelf and experienced it again? I bet if you started dancing, you would feel better about working your business as hard as you do. I bet if you started doing something you enjoyed and that energized you, you wouldn’t resent having to get up early to get to work the next day and that you might just arrive with a smile on your face.
Thank you, My Lia. Thank you, Coyote Ugly. Thank you, Hot Dancing on the Bar Girls. Thank you for reminding me that dancing is what I am supposed to be doing. (Just not ON the bar.) Thank you for the smile on my face and in my heart. And thank God, my knees didn’t give out.
:) love it
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