Daughter Date. . .

Two weeks ago, Emma and I had a really special date. I had read about a free ballet performance at one of the high schools here in town and asked Emma if she was interested in going. We waited two whole weeks for our special date. About three hours before we were to leave, Emma chose her favorite dress to wear and began getting ready, which took all of about three minutes. She was so anxious! She ate her dinner quickly and was ready to go long before we needed to leave. Fortunately, we did leave earlier than planned. Once we arrived at the high school, I realized we had parked on the wrong side of the school, where another event was being held. We had to get back in the van and drive around to the other side of the building. It was drizzling outside as we hurried into the warm auditorium. We sat patiently waiting while looking at our programs. The ballet was a performance of the "Ugly Duckling." I read the story to Emma and explained to her that there would be no talking, only the dancing. Suddenly, the auditorium lights dimmed. Emma had a concerned look on her face. I quickly realized that she had never been in a performance like that and had no idea that the dimming lights signaled to audience to quiet down as the ballet was about to begin. Emma looked so tiny in the huge fold-down cushion chair. I asked her if she would like to sit on my lap to see better and she accepted, remaining there until the end of the ballet forty-five minutes later. I have to admit, it was an incredible performance and we were both very impressed. The dancers were amazingly talented and beautiful. Emma's eyes were glued to the stage the entire time, as were mine. She clapped and clapped and was grinning ear-to-ear as we hurried back to the van. To finish off our date, we stopped at the famous Whitey's Ice Cream shop and chose two types of frozen yogurt. We sat eating our ice cream and talked about the performance and the evening. I didn't want it to end. It was one of those evenings that was just about perfect. After she went to bed, I recounted all the details to Kevin, smiling and grateful for our evening. I'm thinking we'll have to do it again soon.