Tuesday, May 27, 2014

always on your side

I haven't posted in a long time and I apologize for that but I have an explanation. Here it is: I have wanted to write this post for a pretty long time but seeing as I have been dancing competitively for six years, there is a lot of content I could write about. In essence,the story of my first four years of company is just a sob story about being bullied, feeling left out and sucking at dance. And as much as I'm sure you'd all LOVE to hear me whine about my middle school dance drama, I'm choosing rather to write about the past two years, which have been very good to me. 

It's sort of the norm at my dance studio to quit company after 8th grade and do drill team. I don't know what drove me to, but like the little girl in those taco commercials, I thought, "Why don't we (I) do both?". The three other high school girls and I trying out for company thought that we'd get our own group made since we were older. That didn't happen and a couple of them quit for that reason. But once again, I don't know what drove me to, but I decided to stay. That was one of the best decisions I have ever made. At first I wasn't too thrilled about dancing with girls a year or two younger than me but I quickly realized what a great opportunity it gave me to step up as a leader. I've never been one to sit back in the crowd but in previous years I was either the youngest in the group or too insecure to step up and lead. 
Our team bonded quickly. Even though everyone but Daniella and me had all been together before, I felt like I fit in almost instantly, which was something new to me regarding dance company. Right off the bat we were faced with challenges as one of our teammates, Kara had back surgery to correct her scoliosis. I consider Kara the glue that holds us together. She's close friends with everybody on the team and the way she fights to overcome obstacles inspires all of us to be a better version of ourselves. Knowing that she'd be there for us in a similar situation, we all constantly had Kara on our minds. Her last class before surgery was emotional for all of us. We were excited with her and nervous with her and as much as we all tried to stay positive, there was an elephant in the room. The odds of her dancing again ranged from her being back in a month to her never dancing again, and we all were thinking of the worst case scenario. Good news: Kara was back to dance within two & a half months and is doing better than ever, the full story is one for another day but the point is that she is amazing and helped our team bond. That year we danced to a song by Sutton Foster called Always and to be honest we always made fun of it, (mainly because her voice is so high) but now as I go back and listen to it I can't help but shed a tear because it describes us so well. 
I had intended for last year to be my final year in company because Varsity drill team is supposedly a bigger time commitment (it's not that much). I have never felt like I fit in with the dancer girls in my grade so the idea of being separated from my Ultima team was scary. I decided to stay in company another year. Although there have been many scheduling conflicts, it has been totally worth it. Despite the absence of one member (Kassidy, you were greatly missed) it was the exact same team, so we were already ahead because we know each other so well. 
This year was just more. More fun. More challenging. More drama (unfortunately). I got to know everybody better and through my friendships, discovered who I am, or at least who I want to be. Last year I made friends, but this year I made best friends. A lot of people dread going to dance and on a side note, if you are one of those people you need to reconsider what you're doing, BUT I'm the opposite, I look forward to rehearsal with these girls and even if it's a class we don't necessarily like, we find a way to make it bearable together. 
The two things I love most about these girls are 1. They're hilarious, but also sincere and 2. They follow through. Number two is a big reason why I think we've become like such a family to each other - we can trust each other, we know that when we make a promise, we'll keep it. Of course we're far from perfect - we get annoyed with each other and sometimes we take jokes too far, but at the end of the day none of that matters. Olivia and I often refer to this year's Ultima as "The team that actually did stuff" because when we have an idea, we stick with it and that has really made this year worth while. The list of "stuff we did" is pretty long but the thing I'm most proud of happened just a couple of days ago. 
We made a video for Miss Melva (which you can watch here) and had planned on having a dance section in it. When I was teaching the other girls the choreography, we got the crazy idea to finish choreographing to the rest of the song and ask our company director if we could perform it in showcase. Like I said, we follow through, and only two rehearsals later we were onstage dedicating our dance to Miss Rachel and performing our own choreography. That dance means so much to us. We all connect to the song, "Home" by Gabrielle Aplin, in that, we're going in different directions next year but we'll always call MSSOD our home and we'll always be there for each other no matter what. 

Here's our dance...

So if you're in Ultima and you're reading this: I love you. Don't be afraid of ghosts when you're asleep in your #bedsheets tonight, it's probably just Pasqual (what a boy). Remember to keep the bags off the table on Thursdays because if you don't, hand on my knife, I promise I will slit your throat. If you ever find a panda bear or proof that mermaids are real, let me know - just please don't eat my snacks. I am literally at the hop right now and I can see your future, it involves many artsy dance photoshoots, which are swag. If you ever need me you will find me in the parking lot, eating pizza hut
Until the Abby's go marching in (HUAH), 
Meredith 


I've been incredibly blessed to be a part of this group for the past two years and I honestly don't know how I'll deal with not seeing them everyday next year. However, all good things must come to an end and I feel in my heart that its time for the chapter of my life to close, though I will definitely go back and reread it time and time again. 

And on my heart, I promise I will see you through

When pain arrives, I'll be right there to hold on to
With laughter and with prayer, I promise I'll be there
Always by your side


Always by Sutton Foster




I'll always keep you with me
You'll be always on my mind
But there's a shining in the shadows 
I'll never know unless I try 
Home by Gabrielle Aplin 


In His Name, 
Meredith 


questions, comments or prayer requests? Feel free to email me: meredithmunro@icloud.com 



**PRAYER REQUESTS** 
Victims of gender, race and class violence
Students taking final exams in the next few weeks

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