Out of Focus

The practicals of this picture is that it is my beautiful niece in her final gymnastics competition. We didn't know it at the time that it would be the last, but things have a way of taking their own direction in life. The practicals of this being blurry is something that has frustrated me since the day she started gymnastics at the tender age of three. Low lighting in a gym, no natural lighting, no flash allowed, a little girl in constant motion means I have hundreds of blurry pictures of my niece over the past eight years.

The real "out of focus" meaning in this picture speaks volumes to me now, looking back.

My niece, a brilliant angel.

Little legs on a balance beam at age 3, her literally beaming and saying

"I walka beam so good!"

She grew, she grew stronger, her skills grew.

She moved onto competition, my tender hearted light of my life was getting judged for her hard work.

Every time she jumped up on that beam or jumped from one bar to the next, I held my breath and prayed she wouldn't get hurt.

Over the past year, her "out of focus" began.

A coach who couldn't deal with a tender hearted gymnast.

To me he was out of focus himself. The girls should be the focus.

That light of my life found her voice and said she wanted to quit gymnastics, her out of focus came into focus and I saw a weight lift from her shoulders.

Now I see her shine from within as she dances