My family is the biggest example of support that I can think of. Ever since I was little, my parents and siblings and grandparents did what they could to be at every show, concert, performance, etc. that they possible could. I have vivid memories of my poor brother coming to every ballet recital and Nutcracker show.

We went to track meets, jazz concerts, choir concerts, band concerts, plays, recitals, performances, the list goes on and on. It was so wonderful to watch my siblings do the things they loved, and I loved performing knowing that my family was watching.

A couple specific instances of learning about love and support come to my mind. My mom always signed up to help and volunteered to do extra to make the shows go well. She ran the entire elementary school Olympics for years, coordinating all the volunteers and making sure everything went smoothly. My dad helped her run this, and took the entire day off of work to work the stopwatch and help do the calculations of the winners. My dad also took charge of the chess tournament during school, and made sure everyone had a good time.

My mom came to almost every single tech rehearsal and dress rehearsal, and almost every performance for my entire ballet career. I cherish so much the times we ran to get dinner together and talked about the show, or she brought me a snack and we sat quietly together in the hallways of the Val Browning Center.

I remember one time during my senior year of high school, my sisters were still doing the Nutcracker, but I was unable to because I had chosen to be in the musical at the high school. My mom would be working backstage during the Nutcracker so she would only be able to come see two or three nights of my show, instead of all five nights, which was fine and still beyond kind.

But my dad came to my last show, bearing flowers. He had gone to see my sisters in the Nutcracker the night before, and had made time to come see my show too, even though he didn't have to, he'd already seen it with my mom the week before.

Love means supporting people when they're doing the things they love. It means when your friend invites you to a strange poetry reading that she's performing at, you go. It means when you can, taking time to go to that art museum, or taking a look at a paper or website or book.

I learned this lesson so much from my family, and again from my sweet husband who has always been so incredibly supportive.