Why do YOU dance?

Before dance marathon (dm), if someone would have asked me why I danced, I probably would've just put "for the kids,"which is NOT a bad response at all! I just didn't know what I would've put because I knew why there was dance marathon, I just didn't know why I personally danced. During the middle of dance marathon, it hit me as to why I dance!

I dance for more smiles and to create hope for a better tomorrow for the kids who have nothing to look forward to. I dance because I know how it feels to lose a loved one to this nasty illness and no one should have to lose a loved one, whether they're young or old.

Some people had told me that in the middle of the night it was the hardest time to stay awake and keep going and they were SO right! You are so tired, your back aches, your (my) knee is so filled with fluid, you can't see the sun, the kids are gone, and you really question what made you do it. It was then when I remembered what an anonymous person had texted me the night before. "Just remember how proud your grandma would be to see you raising money for such a cause and know that you standing for 24 hours, even if it hurts, is better than the pain the family could go through when their loved one dies.. you know what that's like. You know that she is looking down at you with that little smirk that she had because she's so proud of you!" Such powerful words from someone who means so much to me! At 3am you really need a boost and that was just what I needed, it definitely pushed me to dance harder and longer because it is easier than losing someone. Even if it was so hard to keep going, at least I could see the light at the end of the tunnel! For those kids, they don't know how long they will be fighting this nasty disease, at least I knew when I was going to be done. I would do dance marathon x20 longer than lose someone I loved again.

After 6am, you are golden. You are so set the last half just cruises on by! The kids start coming in for the day, locks of love is happening (which two girls shaved their heads), there are many games and performers, family speakers are happening in full force again, you get more food!, and you can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.. kinda! On Saturday morning, I checked my phone quite deeply (snapchats, emails, responded to texts, facebook, etc.) when I stumbled across a snapchat from Natalie! It was definitely good motivation to finish out the marathon!!

At 9am on Saturday, we got to go take a 15 minute nap with big pillows and bean bags! It was so lovely. But then after, we had to go into a room called "dancing in our hearts" to remember fallen children to cancer. I didn't want to go into that room at all, it's too early. But I went through but I couldn't bring myself to read the stories, I just looked at the pictures. It was still really hard to just look at pictures because you knew why you were looking at the pictures.

I was getting so so tired about 1pm on Saturday, just 5 hours until I was all done and able to sit, when I saw a teenage girl in a wheel chair. I decided to go over and chat with her and dance with her since nobody else would. It was an amazing experience I will never forget! She was so happy I went over and danced with her! We danced and sang and laughed, we had a great time! :) I talked with her parents a little bit and they said I was the first person to come over and interact with her! That was really a touching moment that I was that one person that made her smile, that one person who her parents said was the only reason she wanted to stay until the end. It was really touching! She thought it was extra cool that I had a slight disability, like her wheelchair. She had asked me if my leg hurt and lying to her I said, nope not at all! She had asked if she could touch it or if that would hurt and it would, but it'd be nothing compared to what she was going through so I opened my brace so she could touch it. She thought that was so cool!

The last family speaker of the event had just lost their child last month, but they were brave enough to speak at the big event, which was awesome! They had so much bravery and courage to get up and talk after just losing their child, I don't think I could have done that. In my opinion, I would have put them on the schedule in the afternoon on Saturday to give us on last big push, but they're story was still very touching.

Dance marathon was such a life-changing experience.. I can't wait until next year! In the next week I'll post pictures and videos :)