We were living in Florida and Emma was in Kindergarten when Beth came home and said Ally and McCoy are going to start taking Rhythmic Gymnastics and Emma wants to too.  Ally and McCoy were a year older than Emma but they were all friends and we were friends with their families.  Sounded like a great idea.  I knew very little about Rhythmic Gymnastics other than I had seen it in the Olympics a few times over the years.  Shortly after they began McCoy decided to move on to other things and it was just Emma and Ally.  They both kept at it and would go to a 'competition' here or there.  About a year later Ally decided to pursue other interests.  It was about this time we figured Emma would get bored and her interests would change.  But as time went on she moved up in divisions and classes and competitions became more frequent and longer.  Within a couple years Rhythmic was her 'thing'.  She would have practice 4-5 times a week and competitions every month or so.  She was getting pretty good and really developed a passion for it.  By the time she was in 5th grade she had been named an All American and was a devoted student of Rhythmic and was completely invested in it.

In October of her 5th grade year I lost my work from home job.  After getting the news that morning the first thing I thought was how can we continue to afford to let Emma continue to pursue her passion(it was getting more and more expensive each year).  Understand, I know how silly this sounds for a 5th grader but Rhythmic was what helped Emma focus in school and come out of her shell.  She gained more and more confidence as her skill and accomplishments increased.  And the passion was evident.  Despite going to class for 3-4 hours a day 5 days a week she never once complained about it.  She loved it and couldn't get enough.

I remember going out for a lunch time bike ride after getting the news of my job going away soon.  As I rode down the road on the sunny, warm day tears were streaming down my face.  What kind of father can't provide for his daughter to pursue her passion?  Luckily Beth had started working and we had been smart about our savings.  Being in IT I hoped it would not take long to find a job and we could continue to have Emma take Rhythmic.

I was lucky in that I found a job within a couple months but unfortunately it would require us to relocate to Columbia, South Carolina.  After Beth and I did extensive research we found the only Rhythmic Gymnastics school was 75 miles away from Columbia.  Obviously it would not be feasible.  So we looked for the next best thing.  Perhaps gymnastics or dance would fill the void.  Lucky for us Beth reached out to Columbia City Jazz Company, a dance company in Columbia.   Dale Lam, owner/director at CCJC reached out to Beth and said she was excited to meet Emma and thought her skill set would transition well to dance.  What we did not know was if the passion would be the same.

I moved to Columbia in February 2010 with the family moving in June after school finished.  Emma was just finishing up her 5th grade year.  Just a few weeks after moving Emma started going to CCJC.  They were working on their summer show and they added her to a few small numbers.  Even though her part was small she was required to be at the studio most every day for long hours as they rehearsed.  I was afraid it would be too much too soon.  It was a big move moving away from the only home she ever knew and all her friends.  Now she was thrown into an environment where everyone else were already friends and she was going to be there a lot.  As it got closer to the summer show we feared burnout would set in very soon.  But as she spent more time at the studio and the days got longer SHE LOVED IT!  Rhythmic Gymnastics is really a combination of gymnastics and dance and Emma had a very good base to start with so the transition was natural.  As parents Beth and I were ecstatic.  Anyone that has moved their family knows the worry of how the kids will handle the move.  But here was Emma after only 5-6 weeks in a new town and she was thriving and loving it.

Soon after Emma began 6th grade and continued dancing.  Again as she progressed the number of days and number of hours increased.  Sometimes to the degree we thought was crazy.  It was not unusual for her to be at the studio 20-30 hours 3-6 days a week DURING THE SCHOOL YEAR.  During breaks and summer those hours could reach 40+ hours a week.  We kept expecting her to burn out.   But she never complained or asked not to go.  She could not get enough.  When she started high school she started taking dance at school as well.  All the while she maintained a 4.0+ average and even squeezed in a little non dance social life.  That is not to say she did not make sacrifices for dance....she did.  While I say she had some of a non dance social life it was tough.  Several years she would have dance on Friday nights which meant no football games.  Saturday and Sundays were usually consumed with dance practice at the studio or out of town at a competition.  Yet still she did not complain she just wanted more.

But last July Emma was at dance Nationals in Orlando and complained her knee was bothering her.  This is nothing unusual as you can imagine given what dancers do to their bodies daily.  But after Nationals we went on vacation and no dancing for a week and her knee continued to bother her.  When we got back we took her into the orthopedic to get it checked out.  He saw something on the X-Ray which concerned him a bit and decided to order an MRI.  What he saw on the X-Ray was confirmed and she was diagnosed with an osteochondral lesion on her right knee.  He said he could do surgery and repair it but the success of such surgery was not very high and he would not recommend it not to mention recovery would be long and uncertain.  He said eventually though the cartilage would pull away from the bone and the results would be similar to a torn ACL.  I asked what if she gave up dance completely(not really an option) and he said it doesn't matter it would still pull away at some point.  At that point they would be able to operate(maybe multiple operations) and repair it.  It would be a long process but the long term prognosis was good.   So with her doctors permission she continued to dance.  How I'm not sure as every time I watched her I expected her to tumble to the ground in pain.  But for 7+ months she continued dancing with a ticking time bomb in her right knee.

For several years now Emma has known she wanted to dance in college, dance professionally, and perhaps own her own studio some day.  We have done everything we could to encourage and stoke the fires of her passion.  Recently she auditioned at Point Park University, State University of New York(SUNY) at Purchase and Marymount Manhattan College and was accepted into each of their dance programs.  Things were moving along and all her hard work and dedication were starting to pay off.  But this Saturday night she was at a church retreat and bent over to get something in her bag.  She felt a 'pop' and immediate pain.  She could not straighten it or put much weight on it.  We could no longer ignore the inevitable and consulted her ortho and received a 2nd opinion.  All agreed surgery was needed.  Thursday, March 23rd she will undergo micro fracture surgery on her knee.  She will have to be off of it for 6 weeks followed by 4-6 months for recovery.  God willing and everything goes well she should be well just in time to start her journey she has spent her whole life pursuing.  She is the toughest person I know so I'm certain this will be only a bump in the road for her.  Please keep her in your prayers.