A Letter To The Ones That Have Helped Me Follow My Dreams

Thank you.

Thank you for helping me follow my dreams. For always telling me that possibilities were endless and that I could be anything I ever wanted.

Thank you for letting me be a free-spirit from the day I was born. For letting me name kittens ridiculous four part names and dance through the aisles of Target.

Thank you for buying me that Barbie house, even though Mom said I couldn’t have it, and for not caring if I set it up on the table at a nice afternoon lunch. Thank you for showing me why I shouldn’t care what others think.

Thank you for loving me, believing in me, and encouraging me to follow my dreams everyday without fail. For late night rehearsals and hours of pirouettes. For the choreography that inspired me to dance forever and the nostalgia that still holds.

Thank you for never doubting my passion.

Thank you for being the friends that give me strength everyday and for showing me what it is to have a family away from home. For reminding me of all the reasons I love what I do and never letting me give up despite a terrible post modern class or a snowstorm on the way to 8am ballet.

Thank you for flying across town, across the country, and across the world to be there for me. For never missing a performance, no matter how important, and for telling everyone how perfect it was (even when it wasn’t).

Thank you for understanding that Cactus Flower is always a necessary last meal in Pensacola.

Thank you for not saying no when I came home wanting to travel to Europe. For showing me the world and for never thinking enough traveling was enough.

Thank you for winter breakfast reunions and for always being the most steadfast pen-pal despite the distance.

Thank you for monologues before class about Dunkin coffee and life lessons. For teaching me when to let go and hang on; how to play the game and more importantly, how to win.

Thank you for showing me what it is to love someone and not care what it costs to give them the world and more.

Thank you for giving me every opportunity in the world and never thinking twice about it. For all of the sacrifices I watched you make and all the ones I know nothing about; thank you for sacrificing everything, everyday, all of the time, to make my dreams come true.