Gone Too Fast!

Dear Grace,
                   I can't believe how lazy I've become about writing to you! I'm sorry I haven't written in so long. Much has happened since I last wrote. About a month ago, I went to my dance class for the last time. I went into the bathroom to change into my dance clothes, and there I discovered my dance shirt had a massive stain on it. I was mad about this because I couldn't wear the shirt with a big stain covering most of the torso (how the stain got there, I really have no idea) and I was wearing a long-sleeve shirt, and I didn't want to work out in that and get massive sweat stains on that, and it was then that I suddenly realized that I just didn't want to go to dance anymore. It's funny that it took a stain on a shirt, but it made me realize that I wasn't enjoying dance anymore. I didn't have any friends there, and the dancing itself just wasn't enjoyable to me anymore. And so, I packed up my things, walked out of that bathroom, walked out to my car, and I have never returned to dance class since.
            It’s not something I’ve ever done before. Sure, I quit drama after I realized what a sucky program Timpanogos has and that I didn’t fit in with that group of people, but I waited to quit until the end of the play. After that I didn’t touch the drama department at all. But quitting dance was much different. It was the middle of the season, and I didn’t quit because I felt like an outcast, or because I hated the director. On the contrary, I love Collet to death, and abandoning her was what broke my heart most of all. But now that I’ve decided to leave, I feel it was the right thing to do.
            I was shocked today, though, because I found out that Colleen (the older dance teacher) passed away today at 1:15. At first I couldn’t believe it, but I called Andrea and asked her about it and she confirmed it. Colleen Collins Smith has finally moved on and gone to rejoin her husband in heaven.
            I’ve been babysitting a family up the street from me. They have six children, all of them under the age of seven. Their names are Esther, Brent, Corbin, Andrew, Talitha, and the baby. They’re an amazing family, and those kids are so awesome. We’ve all become so attached to each other in the last couple of months. I actually babysat them on Valentine’s Day so their parents could have a nice evening out together. It was better than sitting at home by myself, watching sappy movies and eating ice cream and moping about my lack of a lover, haha. So we had a lot of fun, we watched Tarzan and we played with a balloon and goofed around a lot.
            Andrea and I hung out together for a while before I babysat, and we exchanged Valentines gifts and watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which we enjoyed very much J. She was actually in a play recently called Charlie’s Aunt, and she played Charlie’s Aunt, Donna Lucia D’Alvedorez. I went and visited her several times during rehearsals and took her cinnamon rolls and treats of the like. You’ll never guess who was playing Charlie. It was an old friend of mine who used to live down the street from me when I was like three or four, and his name is Wesley Morgan. Haha that was pretty fun to see my old childhood playmate up on the stage, especially since he’s kind of a football jock, and you don’t see those very often in the drama programs.
            Something random! My voice teacher, Amanda, has signed me up for a singing competition in March, so that should be exciting. I’ll be singing two very pretty songs, one of them is called The Light In The Piazza, which is about a woman discovering love for the first time, and the other song is called Children of Eden, and it’s about Eve sharing her wisdom with her posterity. They’re both gorgeous songs, and I hope that I’ll do well in the competition. Mom and Dad and I have also been hoping that I might be able to get a few scholarships through my singing if we get lucky. We’ll have to wait and see!
            Man, I can’t believe how fast the years have gone by. Now that graduation is looming so near, just three months away, and then college another two months after that, I find myself looking back on my life and wondering where it all went. I feel like my whole life has slipped away through my fingers, and there’s no way for me to get it back. I can’t believe eighteen years have already gone by. Three of my friends are engaged, and another one who’s younger than me is already married. I’ll be leaving home and stepping into a whole new world at the end of the summer, and I don’t know what’s to become of my life when that time comes. I don’t know where I’ll be or who I’ll be with.
            One thing I do know is that I’m grateful for what I have in my life now. I’m so grateful for my Mom and Dad, who are always there for me and are always looking out for me. I am grateful for my best friends in the whole world, Alyssa and Andrea, who have always loved me and accepted me for exactly who I am and who I have shared endless laughs and good times with. And I am grateful for God, who has been beside me since the day of my birth, and will be right there beside me every step of the way when I move away from home next year. I don’t know what the future may hold, but as long as I have my family, my friends, and my eternal father, I won’t be afraid.
            Well, that’s all I can think of to write about tonight, but I just want you to know that I love you, and that I’m thinking about you.

Love Always,

                        Katie Jo