Elton's Tiny Ballerina

Last night while I was preparing pizza dough before the kids arrived, I put on Elton John and cranked up the volume. As he began to sing, I could hear Bruce singing the words right along with him. That is what he would always do. He would be louder than the music. Sometimes we would have to tell him to tone it down a bit, so that we could here the song too. Bruce loved to sing. In fact, he went to college to first major in vocal music. Finding some comfort in being alone, remembering Bruce's spin on Elton John made me laugh. Then, Tiny Ballerina came on. As the song continued, I was transported to Las Vegas and the Piano Bar in New York New York during August of 2003. We had taken a family vacation with the entire Tokheim Clan, which included Bruce's brother, Mike, his wife and two sons. Lance, our youngest had turned 21 that year. As a celebration of all of the cousins being adults..we took our annual CLAN ADVENTURE to Las Vegas. It was fun from the minute we landed. We all went to the Piano bar and found out that it was under construction, so it was out around the pool area that night. We celebrated Mike's August birthday with him riding on a horsey stick, then the boy cousins all dressed up in drag for some other song and finally,Tiny Ballerina was played. Abby's 20+ years of dancing experience took center stage. As we watched her with less inhibitions than she normally has, she entertained the entire crowd. She looked like a professional as she twirled and danced. But, what I remember most, is how Bruce and I proudly felt, watching her dance - watching the crowd watch her dance and knowing just what a good girl she was! We didn't say anything to one another. We didn't have to. What we were both thinking was, "That's our girl! We did good didn't we? " These are the memories that sit there and wait for something to trigger them to surface.
Lance's Birthday went well. The kids got into making their assigned portion their own. They said it was the best pizza they have had in a long time. I followed through with my photographing almost every moment for posterity. Another day has come and gone ...
And I will wait for another Bruce memory to surface and to savor. Deb