Katie Bly, in many ways, had suffered a devastating four years. Within that short time-period she had lost both her mother and her sister, two losses that individually can take years to heal from, but together, can seem completely overwhelming. So when Katie heard the Today show asked viewers at home to tell them things they had always wanted to try, Katie, as she often did, thought of her lost family members and decided she wanted more than anything to do something that would honor them and the people they were. With that in mind, Katie sat down and wrote to the today show, “I want to learn to dance.”
Katie, a mother of two herself, remembered the joyfulness that her mom and her sister added to her life, and lived their own lives with, and with that in mind decided she wanted a joyful kind of dancing, settling on swing dance.
Katie’s mother, Diane Francis, died at the far too soon age of 55 in 2009, suffering from a rare form of appendix cancer. When Katie thinks back on it, she says thoughtfully, “I didn’t know what kind of torture your body could really put you through. That really stuck with me, seeing her like that, because she was so strong, but I’m really glad that I got to be there with her.”
In 2013, four short years later, Katie was still mourning the loss of her mother, when she received news that her older sister Crystal had passed away in a car accident at 32 years old. Katie herself is now that age, and so this was an especially poignant year for her to do something big to honor the amazing women she had in her life that are no longer here. She said, “I want to live every day after 32 to its fullest, not just for me but for her, since she didn’t get to.”
The today show heard this amazing story and surprised Katie by not only helping her fulfill her request but taking her to the JustDance studio in Los Angeles to be trained by world famous Derek Hough, who himself stars on “World of Dance” and “Dancing with the Stars.”
Despite Katie’s 10 miles a day jogging habit, and the incredible teacher, she was still nervous about trying swing dancing. Turns out though, she is a natural. Hough taught her such moves as “The Pretzel,” “The Stop and Go,” and “The Egg.” The Today Show’s Megyn Kelly also stuck by her side, picking up some moves herself in the process, such as a cartwheel.
Derek was very proud of his students, saying, “Dance is about fun and expressing yourself and having a good time! … I think we did that today.” Katie was left smiling, both because of all the fun she was having, and for having a chance to honor her loved ones while enjoying every second life has to offer.
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Source: Today Show
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