Dance class last night.

We got there early to practice alone.

Steps. Missteps. Turns. Twists. We laughed so hard we cried. (You had to be there.) So hard my eye makeup ran down my cheeks.

At one particularly hilarious point M looked down at me with a big grin, and said:

“That’s your mother’s smile! I looked at you just now and there she was. You have Sandy’s smile!”

My mother smiled with her whole face. Her eyes crinkled. Her face softened. It lit up the room.

You can’t buy a moment like that.

And M.’s the only person in the world who could give it to me.