Abigail the Introvert!!

"Lighthouses don't go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining." Ann Lamott

I have a post being published online that will be talking more about this topic so I will only touch on it today. 

Today I will say that I am simply in awe of the little introvert I have raised. 

Four years ago she begged me to start ballet. I signed her up knowing that the little girl who bounced and danced and hugged and smiled at home wouldn't be able to do that when she got to the ballet studio.

I vividly remember taking this video below. Firstly I now see that I have her leotard on backwards. Boy have I come a long way. But mostly, I remember thinking at that moment, my beautiful little girl was so excited to start ballet and yet ...

I knew when we walked into the studio she would freeze and climb into the shell she always did whenever anyone outside of our immediate family was around.

I started her in homeschool co-op. And this was the first picture my friend Kristin Girton captured of my little lady.

But Ms. Lori Ann knew introverts. And my friend Kristin encouraged me weekly at co-op to be patient. And suddenly, Abigail started dancing .... she'd only pair with Ms. Lori Ann, but she was growing:

And then, Kristin came up to me crying and said: "Abigail participated!" And then she took this picture of my little girl on the first day of her second year: 

I cry as I write this because last night, my little girl took the center of the stage for scene 4 of a ballet production she couldn't get through the try-out for just four years ago.

And as she looks at these pictures above she tells me: "Man, that's like a square passe" and points out all the ways her form is wrong. She LOVESSssssss ballet.

And I love watching my little introvert shine as she dances!

So happy,