On Skiing and Performing and Legacies

I just saw T. Bone off for a day of skiing with friends.  They are going to what is probably the best resort in the state and snow is in the forecast.  I think he's going to have a stellar day.  I remember coming here after sending him on this same trip last winter.  I was worried and nostalgic and a tad verklempt.  What a difference a year can make.  He's grown up so much in the past year, and I've accepted it.  I may have even welcomed it.  That being said, I was the one blow drying his soaked ski boots at 6:30 a.m., handing him a wad of cash and a banana, kissing the top of his head and sending him off with a Be safe and have fun.  Still the mother...always the mother.

I didn't learn to ski until I was a teenager.  I babysat for a family who took me to Colorado with them a couple times.  Although I was there to care for the baby, they hired another babysitter and sent me to ski school.  What a job!  I have fond memories of the H. family and those trips to Steamboat Springs.  I can still see the girls fearlessly flying down the mountain sans poles in their bright colored parkas making it look so easy. Now they are young women who may take their own children skiing.  My own girl is going to learn to ski in Colorado this winter, and I plan to reacquaint myself with a sport I haven't enjoyed since before T. Bone was born.  I don't love to ski, and I don't like heights, but I love the mountains and snow and family time.  T. Bone is a die-hard and I suspect Miss Bit will be too so I'll do it for them because that's what moms do.  Always the mother.

Miss Bit has play practice for most of the afternoon.  The big show (Aladdin) debuts in less than a week so we are in the home stretch.  I am excited to see her on stage although at this point I'll likely be backstage for all the performances because of a lack of parent volunteers. Sigh.  Last night over a slice of Milky Way Pie she decided that she will try out for her school's spring musical because it is Annie. I think it's a good choice. This acting thing is good for her confidence and character, and I just adore Annie too..

I never mustered up the chutzpah to try out for any school performances despite the fact that I always dreamed of being on stage.  I joined the stage crew instead.  It was a better fit for me to be behind the scenes hammering and painting and such.  I don't like the limelight.  I never have.

My Mom always said that when she retired she was going to get into community theater.  I know she would have truly found a calling in performance art.  She was always the entertainer: smart, witty, quick and confident.  Maybe that's why I love the idea of Miss Bit on stage.  In a round about way she's fulfilling her Nanny's dream...sharing it.  We all have our legacies -bequests and traditions so powerful simply because of the meaning behind them. Gifts because of how they came to be.  Heirlooms because of who they connect us with.