Birthday

It's hard to believe that today, I turned twenty years old. It's two decades, but I don't feel any older because of it. Sometimes I think that birthdays are just arbitrary ways of marking the time. There are plenty of other times that can make you feel older. Moments that you stop and think about how far you've come. For me, one of those times occurred a few months ago.

A bit of backstory: I'm a dancer, and have been for longer than I can remember. When I came to college, I joined the Ballet Performance Group. I now serve as the fundraising coordinator for the group. Through BPG, I've made some incredible friends (including many of the wonderful individuals who photograph and model my work), and I don't really know what I would do without it. Case in point:

Every semester, the executive board is required to stay after dress rehearsal to put away the costumes and clean up. Everyone takes on a different task, and it doesn't take too long. I was assigned to help Sydney, our Vice President, in the largest dressing room. My back began to bother me, so I stepped outside to sit down somewhere out of the way. Though I tried to reassure everyone that I would be fine, within minutes the pain of spasms in my lower back reduced me to tears. Although we tried to send me back to my room, eventually (at about 2:15 AM) I contacted a few of the other board members and they arrived to take me on a trip to the ER, where we remained until the spasms stopped just before 6 AM. Without the amazing friends I have, I'm not sure where I would be right now.

As with any pivotal moment in my life (as well as any moment that forces me to stay in bed for long periods of time), the experience inspired a knit pattern. Here's one of the pieces I made while recovering:

I decided that I wanted to make an infinity scarf, because the experience truly wrapped me up. It took over everything I was doing. On the other hand, I was surrounded by friends for the evening, wrapped in their protection. Embedded in this scarf are small hearts, a tribute to the love we all carry with us everywhere we go.

Modeling this piece is Stephanie, who also dances in the same group. We were supposed to share the stage in the performance I ended up missing. Emily, my wonderful photographer, serves on the same executive board and was present for the entire night. I'm truly grateful to both of them for joining me on this journey.