Dance class, take 2

Maddie started dance class last night. 

We'd been back and forth about whether or not to enroll her for this year. Of course, she (and Faith) have been begging to take dance again, but we weren't 100% about spending extra money every month. We finally decided that she truly does enjoy it so much, that it is worth the $40/month. 

Anyway, we had the most overwhelming thing happen to us while we were at Maddie's dance class. There is only one girl in this class from last year that Maddie remembers, and all of the other girls are new. Well, there was a little girl in a pale blue leotard with short brown hair and Minnie ears that came right up to Maddie and said, "Hi! I'm Alexia. Do you want to play with me?" Maddie started jumping up and down telling us, "Oh my gosh! It's my friend Alexa! Look, it's my friend Alexa! Yes, I'll play with you, Alexa." The little girl went on to explain that her name was Alexia, and not Alexa but was as sweet as could be. Maddie heard something similar to Alexa, and automatically thought of her "friend", Alexa.

Midway through the class, we were asked to come in to see some of the tap steps they had just learned. The woman standing next to me told me that this little girl, Alexia- only 5 years old,- has Stage IV neuroblastoma. She was just diagnosed two weeks ago, and is already on her 2nd round of chemotherapy. My heart sank and I had tears filling my eyes. I couldn't stop looking at this little girl and thinking, "this could so easily be our Crannie" and thinking about Alexa in Texas and her family and everything that they endured. 

She and Maddie were fast friends from the get-go, and Maddie insists that this is her friend AlexA. Not, AlexIA. She tells us, "this is great, now I don't have to send pictures to her on the helicopter."