Pretty

"Wanna see my princess dress???"

Sophia scurried into her bedroom and appeared within seconds on her tippy toes, careful not to let the plastic bag-sheathed ensemble drag the floor.  She could barely catch her breath.

"Look at my tutu!  See it?  Look at my barrett!"

She wrested the hanger out of the plastic protector and proudly thrust her leotard in our direction.

"See the barrett?  It matches!"

Her dark eyes were extra shiny in the dim light as she showed off the tiny, baby blue ballet recital costume.

Her thin four year old frame was unexpectedly graceful as she fed us small samples from the recital routine she was scheduled to perform the following weekend.

"Can you come to my recital?!?!?!"

George and I didn't need to exchange glances.  We would absolutely be there.

The recital was the day after my vocal cord surgery, and I was grateful to wake up that morning feeling healthy and alert.  I put on my button that explained I couldn't talk, and headed for the auditorium for the performance of a lifetime.

When we arrived, Sophia was in the lobby with her mother.  Bright lipstick was spread across her pursed and serious lips.  She was wearing her much anticipated costume and her game face.  Her unruly curls were obediently pinned in a bun, with just a few kinky ringlets tickling the back of her neck.  She was a ballerina.  A most pretty ballerina.  And the best part?  She most certainly knew it.

She fidgeted with her costume.  She ran her tiny fingers over the crushed velvet that hugged her belly.  She moved her lips with caution, careful not to muss her makeup.  She looked up at me, knowing that my surgery left me unable to speak to her, but not knowing whether or not she should speak to me.  When I caught her gaze, she looked away and whispered, "Do you see this?  Do you see my lipstick?"

I could have stared at her for hours.  She was confident and excited.  She was proud of herself, and had there been a mirror in that lobby, I guarantee she wouldn't have been able to walk away from it.

How amazing to be a four year old.  How amazing to stand in the midst of a crowded lobby with your butt cheeks peeking out of little white tights and feel  your most beautiful.  I wish her confidence from that day could be bottled.  I hope for her that she always feels that good about herself.  I hope that when she gets braces, or glasses, or gains weight, or get pimples that she will be as self assured and poised then as she was on that day.

This week's You Capture challenge is Pretty.  And Sophia was the most pretty ballerina I've ever seen.  :-)