Last week one of our favorite bands came through for their annual concert on the quad. Our family looks forward to it every year. The Clumsy Lovers put on a fantastic family friendly concert for us every summer. I’ve dragged newborns and toddlers and gangly tweens with me. I lug a wagon full of blankets and snacks and water bottles. And we get comfy and enjoy one of our favorite evenings of the year.

This year the weather was a bit funky and drove the concert indoors. Folks didn’t let the weather stop them, and I didn’t let the fact that I was still feeling a bit funky (damn cooties) stop me either. The people that go to enjoy the Clumsy Lovers are just about one of the happiest groups of people you will ever see. The people trickle up to dance. It’s always the kids first. I have ants in my pants to get up there. In this area of the world, a quite conservative one I might add, it is always so good to feel like I’m in a crowd that doesn’t give a hoot about all that stupid social BS. Happy people enjoying music and dancing with their kids makes my heart swell.

And dancing with my kids, that is the highlight of the evening for me. Rian starts off slowly, tentatively. Finn asks me to teach him to dance. Rian swirls and twirls as I whip her around by her finger. I can’t help but smile and sing with the band.

One of the moments that I most want to glue to my brain is dancing with my girl for the encore. One of the songs I’ve sung to all three kiddos has been “You Are My Sunshine” and when the Lovers mixed that in with their encore, how could my heart not swell and sing with them? My almost too big girl wrapped her arms around my middle and she buried her head into me and we danced, pressed into one another. Her, loving her momma, and me, trying to burn the memory of such a sweet young love into my brain. It won’t be too much longer before that is so very uncool. But for that dance, I was her rock, and she... mine.