08/13/2021
I am sorry that we have not been around to update ya'll on the all-out crazy stuff that goes on around here. I will be posting a "catch-up" post here soon. We have been taking some much needed time to grieve the loss of my mother Betty Chambers.
My mother was a great teacher of many things to many people. For most who knew her, they knew her as a dance teacher. Many primary children knew and loved her as their Sunday school teacher. For me, she was the one who taught me that was okay, just the way I am. She taught me that I am flawed, imperfect, and even damaged, and that's okay. It doesn't affect my value as a human or limits me in what I can do. She showed me that people in my life will love me simply because I am who I am, and that's okay, let them. She taught me that people in my life will reject, judge, or even hate me, and that's okay, let them. She led me by her example to know that at the end of the day, the only person who has to love and accept me, is myself.
My mom never allowed the opinions of others to dictate how or even what she was going to do. She fearlessly marched on in whatever direction she chose to.
When she was a young wife and mother, my dad received notice that he was to be stationed in Thailand. He told my mother that they were going to have to move overseas. She said goodbye to her family and friends, packed her small children, and moved to Thailand. Just like that. People told her was crazy. Many years later when she decided that she was going to open her own dance studio, an art studio, a professional dance company, and still continuing to help my dad and uncle run their business, all while raising a pack of crazy children... she did it. People told her she was crazy. When she was a single mom in her forties and she decided to get her master's degree, while working two, or sometimes three jobs... she did it. Again people told her she was crazy.
Now as a lot of you can relate, when a young man or woman has to spend time in public with their parents, it will often end with the teenager wishing to find the closest rock to hide under due to embarrassment. As a young woman, I was no different. A simple trip to the grocery store with my mom was never simple. Every time we went, if a good song with a great beat was to come over the speakers, without fail she would break into a full salsa dance right there in the aisle. She would grab me and try to make me dance with her, I was busy looking for that rock to hide under. The worst was when some unfortunate stranger was there, she would just grab them and start dancing. Sometimes they would try and get out of the awkward situation by telling her that they didn't know that dance, so she would just start a dance lesson ...right there in the grocery store. I would wait until we were in the car before I would yell "Mom! You can't just have a dance recital in the grocery store! People are thinking you're the crazy lady that dances at the grocery store!" She would just smirk that half-smile she had and say "I am a crazy lady at the grocery store, so why not dance when a good song comes on?"
Of course, the lesson that she was trying to teach was lost on me at that age. However, I am happy to say that with age, I was able to know what a precious gift that wisdom was. Yes, I am flawed, awkward, crazy, imperfect, and damaged, and that isn't going to change. People love me, people think I'm crazy, people even hate me, that's okay because I don't have to change that. I am loving, intelligent, talented, and kind, despite what people think, feel or say about me.
So, the next time you are at the store and you see someone dancing like a crazy person..it might be me, and now, you know why.
Save a place on your dance card for me Mama, and we will salsa in heaven's aisles.
I love you.
