We took advantage of the day off and drove out to Chantilly to visit an old family friend. She was one of my older sister’s closest friends throughout high school and after.
Michelle has always been magical to me. When I was in upper elementary school and middle school, my sister was heavily involved in the theater department as part of the tech crew and later as stage manager. Michelle always landed the lead roles and turned in what I considered to be Tony-worthy performances. I was over the moon when she beat out the snobby girl for Homecoming Queen in 1985.
Michelle has always been magnetic and has never lost her joy of life, and I’ve seen this woman weather some pretty heavy stuff.
These days Michelle runs a wellness studio with her husband, she a yoga therapist and he a chiropractor. They have always been so generous with our family, refusing to accept payment for relieving our pain, adjusting our spines, and teaching us stretches to bring balance back to our bodies.
In return, Chris has repaired wooden chairs for them and helped them move studios. Today I assembled a gift basket to bring to them for the latest miracle adjustment her husband gave me when I knocked my back out of whack late last summer. When I tried to pay him, he shook his head and said, “Michelle would kill me.”
Michelle was beaming when we arrived and was her usual bubbly self as she engaged all of us in conversation. She has a way of making you feel like the most important person in the world. Everybody can use some of that, right?
My Corner of the Village 