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August gets another kick in
Sep. 3rd, 2006 12:55 pmOne of my very best friends and I say that the universe runs on irony. Sometimes that can be amusing, but sometimes it engenders a fatalistic depression.
This friend, whom I shall call R, is very active in ballet in Virginia. His daughter is a very good dancer, possibly heading for a ballet career, and he involves himself as he can, including filming the studio's yearly "Nutcracker." A couple years ago, the girl who was to play the prince in the Nutcracker came down with a bad case of being pregnant, so a ringer had to be found. One of the choreographers drafted her son, 17 years old and an amazing dancer. Really strong and athletic. R noted that while the guy was a great dancer, he was sullen (even more so than your average 17 year old). R asked him why, and the kid said he hated dancing, but his mother wouldn't let him quit. His father wouldn't back him up because he didn't want to fight with his mother. So the kid's plan was to join the Marines the second he turned 18 and get away from his mother.
We joked about this at the time, saying he could never tell the other Marines about being a ballet dancer. We also said it was a shame that he was going to go get killed in Iraq just to avoid dancing. But we didn't really mean it.
He was killed in Iraq on the last day of August.
And the irony? Rather than flowers, his mother has asked that donations be made in his name to a dance charity.
I could make a comment about how he's pirouetting in his grave, but I think I'll just say that this means the universe is set to run a while longer.
This friend, whom I shall call R, is very active in ballet in Virginia. His daughter is a very good dancer, possibly heading for a ballet career, and he involves himself as he can, including filming the studio's yearly "Nutcracker." A couple years ago, the girl who was to play the prince in the Nutcracker came down with a bad case of being pregnant, so a ringer had to be found. One of the choreographers drafted her son, 17 years old and an amazing dancer. Really strong and athletic. R noted that while the guy was a great dancer, he was sullen (even more so than your average 17 year old). R asked him why, and the kid said he hated dancing, but his mother wouldn't let him quit. His father wouldn't back him up because he didn't want to fight with his mother. So the kid's plan was to join the Marines the second he turned 18 and get away from his mother.
We joked about this at the time, saying he could never tell the other Marines about being a ballet dancer. We also said it was a shame that he was going to go get killed in Iraq just to avoid dancing. But we didn't really mean it.
He was killed in Iraq on the last day of August.
And the irony? Rather than flowers, his mother has asked that donations be made in his name to a dance charity.
I could make a comment about how he's pirouetting in his grave, but I think I'll just say that this means the universe is set to run a while longer.
