Last weekend, we had our opening night of Nutcracker.  This year was an especially difficult one as we lost our beloved ballet instructor, Renee "Sissie" Gillenwater to cancer.  Her death was quite unexpected as we did not know her cancer had returned.  She went into the hospital after getting quite ill on a Thursday afternoon…

She is supposed to be here today.  She is supposed to be here for at least 8 more years which is when Pumpkin graduates high school.  She is supposed to be here when they return from college to visit.  She is supposed to be here.  But, she isn't. Instead, we are starting our ballet year…