I was a star once.

I had company, of course, but it was one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life.

I was in the ninth grade that year. Star wars was huge then, and the dance teacher's husband was a law enforcement officer who had access to glow sticks - before anyone knew what they were. I was part of the acrobatic/gymnastic group that wore black. The other group (not pictured here) was the ballet group and wore white flowing chenille ballet costumes. They got the glow sticks.

I actually remember learning the dance as the dance teacher choreographed it. The two groups learned their parts completely separately and only had a few run throughs together before the show. We did test out the glow sticks for one dress rehearsal.

I can still see the lights. The music was the theme song to Star Wars, of course. Not the jazzy song they played on the radio, but the song that played in the movie. It was hard to see the faces in the audience at first, but the closer I got to them, the better I could see them. It all went off without a hitch. When the ballet group came on and lit the glow sticks, the entire audience oohed and awed.

I don't remember much about my performance, which means I didn't make any big mistakes. I remember I did a camel hop instead of a flip flop, which was the right thing to do. Everyone thought it was so cool-looking! Of course, my mom was hoping I'd do the flip flop, but my wrists are weird and I wasn't consistently doing them well. The audience didn't know that.

I can still remember the opening movements - but the rest is a bit of a blurr to me.

The one thing I remember best is that we got a standing ovation! I'd been dancing since I was 4 years old. This was the first and only standing ovation the dance I participated in ever got.

I was on such a high that night. It was amazing and wonderful. If I could live out my life feeling like that, I would.

Sometimes, my life was more than good. It was awesome!