The Story of us...

HI All,
Well, last night was my first full class back on my own. One word-AWESOME. Yeah, I brought it. Next up-this weekend! Get ready!

Today as I was sitting at the desk during LH's class, I saw my old landlord, Harold K pull up to pick up his wife from her nail appointment. Harold's daughter owns our building now and she and her husband are great but I do miss Mr. K. He used to drive through the parking lot and pick up trash and was always around. It reminded me of the story of how we arrived in the here and now-so here's the story for those who do not know, as we come close (9/25) to celebrating our Sweet 16 anniversary!
Once upon a time there were 2 friends who opened classes in a church hall. One fine day one friend got pregnant with her first baby and the business moved to a little teeny dance studio. (At least it had air conditioning!) There the business grew and grew, very quickly outgrowing the teeny space.
I was dispatched to find a bigger place and landed on our current home. The building had just been bought by Mr. K and it was in process of getting a brand new parking lot (it was dirt) and hopefully getting new businesses to move in (there were some still there, like Timbo's). (Mr. K bought the building to move his daughter's liquor store in and make it bigger!)
I called the number and K kept saying we'd never get it or it would be too expensive. Well, I like to try and see before I throw in the towel.
I met Mr. K and drove it the dirt parking lot, every window in the building caked with dirt and mud. We walked in and the place looked dark and all the lights were filled with spiders and bugs. (The space had be vacant for years.) We walked around, I knew it was perfect and I swallowed hard and told him the pittance we could afford for this huge, perfect space. This kind man, who reminded me of my Grandpa, took my hand, put the key in it and said, "Pay me something every month and don't be late." I cried. I cry every time I think about it. It was a handshake deal all those years ago, something almost unheard of even then. His one caveat? Folks have got to park in the large parking area, not in front of the building. (Sound familiar?)
I called K, she didn't believe me...and the plans started. Mista was dispatched immediately to build the desk, paint went up, the logo (the old logo, handpainted) went up, cleaning out lights, cleaning bathrooms...we decided to move and re-open in less than 30 days.
We took field trips from our other location to show folks how close it was, we didn't sleep and we ate at the Center. Little K was 6 months old and the poor thing lived there for almost a month with all the craziness of getting ready to open.
We went from a 900 square foot dance studio to a 3100 square foot studio room. Our first class everyone was huddled in the middle of the room and it was weeks before everyone learned to spread out.
And we have paid every month on time since 1997.
And we have grown every year too.
And somewhere around 2000 I was able to sleep.
There has been another baby since then-little Mista. Little K learned to walk, talk and basically run the place. She's in 8th grade now, Little Mista in 4th grade.
I got married and have 2 furry babies of my own...and a new hip.
My hair got straighter and K's got curlier...both Mista and Mr. P&P have lost hair-and I'm sure the Center is to blame.
We've gained 9 more instructors since that year (Liz was with us in the beginning.) and countless class managers too.
We've had joy and pain and sorrow but we're still here.
And it all started with Mr. K handing me a key and having faith in us...before we really had it in ourselves.
So when you come to class and we push you and we tell you that you can do it and WE have faith in YOU before you have it in yourself...trust us. We know what we're talking about. We're just paying it forward.
Here's to Mr. K. We love you. Thank you for seeing something in us, trusting us and giving us the real start we needed to make our Center great!