Dear Friends,
This week, some of you got to witness something that has never ever happened before...
My family dancing TOGETHER!
My parents and sister obviously know that my "occupation" is a dance, fitness, and yoga instructor, however, because we live an hour and a half away from each other, they have never taken my class before, or even seen me teach (which is very different than how I normally am - a shy introvert!). Then Covid-19 happened, and for the first time, my parents and sister could take my classes virtually on Zoom. And so they did. For 6 months now, our family bonding has been doing Stop Drop And Dance together 3-4x a week!
Last weekend I shared that my girls and I got tested so that we could finally give hugs to my parents and sister's family. If you missed that video, click below:
We stayed all week long, and it has been so healing. Despite a completely failed internet connection in Tuesday's Stop Drop And Dance class, some of you saw my parents courageously step out of their comfort zones and be my backup dancers! See the video below:
Afterwards, my dad saved the day and upgraded his internet upload speed so thankfully I was able to keep teaching from their house. On Thursday, my parents danced again as we raised $1400 for the Ceres Community Project in honor of Shel's birthday! Thank you to all the dancers who helped to raise money! It happened to also be my mom's actual birthday, so click the video to watch my shoutout to her in the middle of class:
Then to end an already incredible week of dancing with my parents, my sister and her daughters joined in during our Saturday class! We had to clear out my parents' dining room to make enough space for the 8 of us.
Epic? Yes. Talk about the most supportive family ever... I am so overwhelmed with gratitude and am so happy some of you were there to "meet my family." Here's a clip right before our final song, "Faith."
Today we celebrated my daughter's 9th birthday and then drove home at the end of the night. It was bittersweet knowing that all good things come to an end, but it just means we have the next sleepover to look forward to in a few months.
Today is exactly the 6 month mark that we started quarantine from school and work. My wish for you all is to reunite with your family, or clan/network/tribe if you haven't already. Whoever it is you haven't seen, but really need to see, start planning it out. For example, if all of you are able to quarantine at home for 2 weeks, do that and then see your loved ones. Or if you are an essential worker, consider getting tested and quarantine for just a few days until you get your test, then visit your loved ones. My point is, our health is not just physical. Our health stems from our heart, our source, and if your heart is aching like mine was, over not seeing my family, then do something about it. Plan it out, make it happen. 2 weeks of quarantine is doable. Another 6 months passing by without seeing your family, is not. Something to think about.
This Saturday is National Dance Day! We are making it a donation class benefitting the Marin Education Equity Fund. Now, more than ever, low-income students are getting left behind because of distance learning. Help provide free tutoring and resources to these children and close the educational equity gap. Please donate here and you will get a Zoom link for Saturday's 9:30am class in your confirmation email: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/119005311089.
Hope to dance with you this week! We will be bringing back all the old National Dance Day routines, and learning the new 2020 dance! Have a wonderful week.
Love,
Grace
