The picture is of Virginia Myers in the 1,000th production of Edison Studios. The year was 1912. The title was Dream Dances. Used with permission of the Myers Family estate and courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. (Edison Co., CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.)

 Scene 6: A Mother’s Reflection

After tucking her girl in for the night, Mama retired to her own bedroom and changed into her long flannel nightgown before slipping beneath the covers.

As she lay staring up into the dark, she thought about the day. Working up the nerve to walk from their old house, near downtown Santa Monica, all the way to the Pier had taken her Karen weeks. But look how that worked out. Now she had a horse and was brave enough to take him to Disneyland. She was learning to think for herself and to make good decisions.

After a few minutes, she realized she was too wound up to sleep, so she tiptoed to her daughter’s room and looked at her baby, again. She looked so peaceful sleeping there, all snuggled up in her bed. Mama prayed to herself and the heavens above. She wished that she could do something to keep her daughter feeling that harmony within herself, always.

“There,” she whispered, as she covered her with her down comforter and laid her arms gently on top of the covers.

She looked down at Karen one more time. In spite of all her concerns, Karen had tried and succeeded. Karen had taught Mama a very important lesson that day. She would never let her fears stop her, and maybe she did have a destiny as a dancer, impossible as that sounded.

Original Text ©2021, Karen Lynn-Chlup. All rights reserved.