I'm Glad I Didn't Miss the Dance

I must be on a song roll this month because I've got another one to share with you today.  Do you remember Garth Brooks song "The Dance"?  I know this song was written about a romantic couples time together but I have a little different spin on it.  Whenever I hear this song I think about both my Mama and Daddy.  Take a minute to read the words and I'll explain.

The Dance by Garth Brooks

Looking back on the memory of
The dance we shared 'neath the stars alone
For a moment all the world was right
How could I have known that you'd ever say goodbye

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

Holding you I held everything
For a moment wasn't I a king
But if I'd only known how the king would fall
Hey who's to say you know I might have changed it all

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

Yes my life is better left to chance
I could have missed the pain but I'd have had to miss the dance

My parents both have had birthdays this month.  Mama's is on Feb 18th and Daddy's is on Feb 23rd.  

I lost Mama in January 1987.  I was only 26.  It was such a shock and unbelievably painful.  Which I know it is for anyone any age.  I found her on the kitchen floor and though it doesn't hurt as bad I can still see her face so clearly at that moment.

Daddy died the very next year in March almost 14 months later.  Another find and another shock.  How could this have happened.  What was most painful was that the night before I told him that Ty and I were planning on moving into an apartment.  He was really upset about that.  The next morning he didn't wake us up like usual.  I found him in bed.  He was gone.

My life was a blur of pain after that.  I was a wreck.  I felt like an orphan.  Ty lost the Grandparents that, as he said in his own words, were like losing a second mom and dad.  He was only 8 years old.  I was a kid who always had my parents to come back too and here he was left with me and I'm sure thinking what will happen without Grandma and Granddaddy.  They made life so safe for both of us.  

My sister Joni lived in Atlanta with her 3 young children but it was the same for her.  Mama and Daddy were always there, always safe and protecting, always taking care of us.

I'm so grateful that God doesn't share his life plan with us.  I just know if he would have, I would have pulled back for fear of the pain.  I would have missed The Dance.  

Thank you Lord for giving me their undying love for the time I had it.  I am who I am because I didn't know the pain to come and I was able to love fully and deeply.

Now I smile when I think of The Dance.