life lesson

at the tender and wholesome age of 13, i loved few things more than dancing. i choose to believe i eclipsed the other girls on stage with my talent... and not with my 71 inch, betutued shadow and i refuse to watch any old video recordings which might besmirch that very opinion.
after one particularly rousing christmas performance, a photographer asked to take some pictures of me and my dance teacher's stick insect daughter for some book.
i happily obliged.

at the bright eyed and bushy tailed age of 14, i received a christmas gift from my grandmother. a beautiful new book released by the lds church and on page 106? a tender and wholesome (and flushed. and sweaty) 13 year old me. virtually beaming with christmas cheer.
i had never felt more famous.

at the young and restless age of 20, i drove down to delta, utah (population: rabbits) with my quasiboyfriend and hung out while his "band" rehearsed. it was very loud and very dull and there was an air of cruelty to it for i was forced to listen to songs where fish represent women but i was not given free reign to heckle "holy cow! think i got a bite!". afterwards, i was taken out for icecream and then introduced to quasiboyfriend's parents who were so much more delightful than their son and who just happened to recognize me from a certain book they owned and had underneath their coffee table so they could excitedly pull it out and show their son a picture of tender, wholesome thirteen year old me.
it was not rock & roll.

at the surly and embittered age of 26... a.k.a. yesterday... after church... i decided to meet my new bishop. i walked up purposefully, put on my "i am neither surly nor embittered" smile, shook his hand, and was about to introduce myself when he stopped me and said he recognized me from a book he had.


i'm not sure what it is, but there's a life lesson in there somewhere.

Comments

Jon said…
You're famous.

Plus, I love "betutued."
Nama said…
wow! i want to see this book. and what kind of lds book is this, exactly? betutued tweens of zion?
Anonymous said…
More importantly, how did you affect these people so much that they could recognize a picture on page 106 of a 13 year old book?

That must be one amazing Christmas photograph!
Jay said…
aren't you glad i pointed out the page number in that book last time i was at your place.

i feel like i was part of the experience.
Leah said…
Basically... this story just makes me love you more.
Adriane said…
I had the same problem in dance. I always told myself that it was cuz I was ten feet taller than the other girls that they stuck me in back. That's why I won't watch the videos. I'm afraid of the truth.
Fat eSpence said…
What if your bishop is really your stalker who was planning for that moment since he saw your picture.