So the other night, I received a surprising text from a former cheerleader that I used to coach. She was touching base and inviting me to her upcoming baby shower. She's having a boy in November. It got me thinking back to both my time as a cheerleader and later as a coach. This all led to a very interesting dream that night.
In my dream I had the unique opportunity to cheer with my former squad. We were at cheer camp and were preparing for our first night's evaluation...something I used to stress about for months beforehand as a coach. I had to get my brand new squad trained and up to par because that was our first opportunity to introduce ourselves to the staff and the other cheer squads.
I suddenly felt the stress in a whole new way. I kept asking for my schedule and realized I didn't even know the cheer we were about to perform. I then went to my closet and had the sickening realization that I was supposed to put on a cheer uniform! I still remember putting on my varsity uniform on for the first time at 15, such a thrill. Somehow, at almost 30 it had the opposite effect on me.
I walked out of my dorm room and into the cafeteria where my coaches and captains sat. I of course felt that none of them were doing their jobs correctly either (who could possibly live up to the coach I had been...such an ego). But, I told them that my time had passed. I wasn't meant to be down on that floor anymore. They got very angry that I wanted to ditch them after they'd worked so hard to give me this opportunity. But I just shrugged and said, you have to know when a certain part of your life is over, and this one was definitely over for me 10 years ago.
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