Saturday, July 30, 2011

Write, Eat, Post, Bathe writing group Prompt: Things That Delight Me

When my daughter Ariane was small, she studied gymnastics.  One of the positions she learned on the balance beam was the scale--on one foot, the other leg back out behind, arms like wings of an airplane.  She had such balance. 

Ariane is 26.  She can still do a very nice scale, and she can stand in the statue of liberty pose like she used to do at the top of the pyramid as a cheerleader.  I wouldn't like to see her up there now, mind you.  She takes her chances these days on children with tough home situations and at love.  It all balances out.

Ariane delights me.  Sassy, bold, generous, messy, beautiful...so many wonderful things, that Ari.

Today, after a barbecued chicken lunch with Ariane, Adam and Adrian, we discussed siblings and childhood shenanigans.  We all had the latter; Ariane was the only one without the former.  We also watched as she demonstrated her ability to still perform a perfect scale and a liberty with her feet on the ground.  I love to see that and remember her fearlessness up in the air.  

This was supposed to be about how I can balance on one foot in physical therapy, about how I can do all the exercises, seeking to exceed expectations.  This essay was to be about how I went from being unable to walk last spring to being able to run a bit this summer.  But I got lost watching as Ariane demonstrated her scale, duplicating with precision my clumsy one, making it impossible not to write about the most delightful part of my life.  Walking is nice, but momming is better.  On balance, Ari wins. 

8 comments:

  1. Oh, that is beautiful!

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  2. What a lucky girl, to have mom who loves her this much.

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  3. Luck is reciprocal in this case.

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  4. Very cool. And I've always thought Ariane was one of the coolest names, ever.

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  5. That is truly a delight.... to see your daughter in such a way, to remember and to see that you too have that goal. It isn't easy to balance on one foot much like life.... there must be some underlying pleasure in that... something inside.... I like to know where my feet are... and it makes me happy to see them both there....
    that was a beautiful post.
    thank you

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  6. That is a perfect essay.

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  7. Thank you all. Such nice folk you are.

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