SO many "inbetweens"

If you're new and don't know about "inbetweens", please go to my June 13th entry to learn about them.

The past couple of weeks have been full of them. From meeting a whole new group of friends at the Christian Motorcycle Association, to hearing from TWO different people that were at Camp Hope in MS this summer.

I was very conscious of my "Protect the Children" training so I never asked for email addresses or phone numbers in MS. And I didn't take any pictures. I gave my email and blog addresses to lots of people, posed for a bunch of pictures with the kids and adults and asked them to contact me.

But no one did. I was a little discouraged - WHEN will I learn?? All of a sudden, I'm emailing people from TWO of the groups. One in Maryland and one in Greensboro, NC.

I will probably go to Greensboro in a couple of weeks to attend one of their youth meetings and dinners, just to catch up.

Last Saturday I went to a soccer game where two of my little girls were playing. Mia is the younger daughter of my Chiropractors. I went a couple of weeks ago to watch her and found out that Megan, who is the daughter of a friend of almost 30 years is on the same team. They were MAJOR underdogs and fought to a 1 to 1 tie. I haven't lost my "soccer spirit." At one point, the assistant coach - who was on the opposite side of the field called Megan's Mom, Kristine,on her cell phone and asked "that man" to quiet down. I asked, "Can I really get in trouble for saying 'Thank you' to the ref?" Kristine said, "In THAT tone you can."

In the afternoon I went to a Ballet recital by Southwest Virginia Ballet.

This is a local organization, founded by another friend from Church in 1990. It's a school that is entered by audition and is free. It has incredibly talented staff and students - who attend other Ballet Schools during the week and then work with SW VA on the weekends. It's a really grueling schedule for really dedicated dancers - AND parents.

Maria is a 13 yr old who stole my heart at Church 8 or 9 years ago. When her Mom told me about the performance AND that Marie was a featured dancer I HAD to go. I stopped early Sat morning and picked up roses for her. I was worried about them because I had to get them early and the performance wasn't until 4pm and they wouldn't fit in my fridge. And I'd never tried to carry fresh flowers on the Honda before. But they survived nicely.

When I saw in the program that she was only in the first half, I worried that she might leave the theater during intermission and I wouldn't see her to give her the roses. I went to where the dancers check in and planned to ask if Maria was leaving early. But when I mentioned her name, the "door Nazi" interrupted and said, "Oh, do you want to take her around front to watch the second half?" I said, "Uh, well, SURE !" She said, "We aren't supposed to do that unless you have a ticket for her." I told her I had been House Manager and a ticket was NOT a problem. So she got Maria.

When we sat down, an adorable little 3 yr old across the aisle started to come over to us. But she kept stopping at her Grandpa's knee and just staring at Maria. I asked Maria if she knew her and she said that she didn't. Finally Grandma brought her over to us and said, "Well, tell her what you wanted to say." About 4 times. Finally the very shy little girl said, "You are SO beautiful and you dance so good." Maria was so kind and sweet to her and she just floated back to her seat.

Another 13 yr old that I've known from Church since she was 2 or so has been keeping me posted on her life via email. She also has a very hectic life with school, church, orchestra, stage work, etc etc.

I got an email yesterday that said, "even school's been great - you know that warm feeling that you get when you're spending the day with friends, all laughing, smiling, joking, and you suddenly really appreciate life and your spirits rise to the point that you could almost start crying from joy? I have experienced that at least five times every day for the past, I dunno, two weeks or so. It's been wonderful."

This from a 13 year old.

I don't have to give her a copy of "Tinkerbell Jerusalem", she's already figured it out.

I am so Blessed to have such incredible young people in my life. They are such an inspiration.

Life is Good !