This past week, I made a dance for a dear friend. Her name is Jennifer McNure. She is the partner of my late MA in Dance adviser John Gamble. Jennifer is one of those rare people who is fully present whenever you speak to her. Like me, her life has been shaped by caregiving and estate settling but also just being while so much swirls around her.
I saw my husband, a ten year cancer patient, in the yard last week. He does a lot of yard work. Very few things will slow him down. I was especially drawn to some branches I saw scattered here and there. Of course, he wanted to take them all down to the side of the road for pick up. But before he did as much, I asked if he would hold my smartphone and capture video of me engaging with some of them.
I ran inside to get a muumuu, Mrs Roper from Three’s Company, sister-girl dress I found in a Florida Panhandle thrift store two years ago. Made of those most ridiculous manmade materials and not fit for wearing. But dancing for a few minutes? Yeah. I can do that. The results are in the video below. Jennifer gave me permission to share it.
I also dedicate it to anyone who needs to know you can keep going no matter how tired you are day to day. The ancestors and God, an most amazing two-fer force, are with. Find healing in nature. Find healing in community. Find healing in faith.
