Being brought up with boys, guns and motorbikes did nothing for any femininity I could have had at the time. Not that I would have had any, but I may have done. I just might have wanted to wear make up, carry handbags and don those Bay City Roller knickers; but I didn’t, and I am glad.
I was more interested in tools, materials, machines and dirt. But, it didn’t stop me from taking some feminine steps later on and by the grand old age of 12, I was studying at a school of dance. Eventually I had my own silver dance shoes and my first cerise ball gown; ‘only I was a girl.’ There is a difference.
Growing up with boys, I noticed that whatever boys wanted to do, they needed the full kit to do it with, whether they persevered or not. My brother took his first swim session with goggles, flippers and a snorkel; I only needed my knickers. Needless to say, with all those things he had to learn to use on top of learning to swim, I learned to swim a hell of a lot faster.
‘Only I was a girl;’ I needed those things, without them, there was no way I could compete and I did compete! I went on to enter a host of national dance competitions, alone and as part of a formation team, gaining medals left right and centre. I think I only ever owned two pairs of dance shoes, and the only reason for the second pair was because my feet had grown. I got my second ball gown too, due to growth elsewhere, it was orange, but I’m sure they called it something more exotic at the time. I consistently sat no end of dance exams too. When I got my first bronze medal with the National Dance Teachers Association I was over the moon, but I wanted more, I got more, my silver and then my gold. http://www.ndta.org.uk/
I didn’t stop there as I went on to gain my first Gold Bar, my second and then my third. My brothers goggles, flippers and snorkel were rotting at this point and he needed other things. He needed another full kit, this time for cricket; the shin pads, the bat, ball, gloves, you name it, he had to have it, and he had my grandmother knitting him no end of sweaters.
My dancing still didn’t stop, I wanted my Statuette, I had set my heart on it. That beautiful tall gold statue, two dancers, with my own name engraved right on the front, and I got it, my trophy.
Then I stopped.
I had gained what I wanted, an education in dance. There was still the direction of ‘up,’ but I came to realise there were only six more steps, and they would lead me to be qualified as a dance teacher, something I didn’t particularly want to be, and it was costing my parents a fortune.
I no longer have my medals, my gold bars, or my statuette. My children have some of my medals, and other items have been lost along the way. I do still have my examination certificates and reports, all of them; pieces of faded blue, handwritten paper.
But I have more than that, I have my grounding, an education, one that will never leave me, as I learned last weekend...when someone asked me to dance.
Thank you for reading my blog. 
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