Yoga with Carrie and Gary

After Carrie's troubled eighth grade year, I wanted to spend more time alone with her. I signed us up for a yoga class together and, after much cajoling, she agreed to go to the class with me. We had a very fun time in the class. She particularly liked doing the "Cobra", a yoga move that required us to lift our heads off of the floor and hiss at one another. She thought that was a hoot and would demonstrate it frequently at home.

I would typically come home from work, grab Carrie and run down to the yoga class. I usually hadn't decompressed from work so I started the first few classes charging into the class quite loudly and heartily announcing, "Afternoon, Dave". The instructor's name was Gary and he would so so quietly respond, "The name is Gary." "What did you say, Dave?" I would reply. Carrie seemed simultaneously amused and embarassed. You would think that I would have learned and proceeded quietly into the next session but it took me several days to learn to tone it down.

Carrie loved telling this story at dinner. "HELLO DAVE", she would mimic, "I CAN"T HEAR YOU DAVE". God, she was funny. I think sometimes that pain is a petri dish for humor. Although that would mean that I should be very very funny right now. I think Carrie's pain from eighth grade left her able to just be herself. She was more relaxed and so much less concerned about what others would think. She was then able to use her powers of observation to tell such funny stories.

I could not convince her to sign up for another yoga class, but we talked about it occasionally for the rest of her life. I remember once in church she turned to me and said, "You're doing the "mountain", aren't you.". I was doing the mountain. It is a stance with a straight spine and relaxed muscles. It should be invisible and I remember being quite surprised she could see what I was doing. Carrie was quietly observant. I think that was part of her gift of connecting to people. She loved to observe people and had a gift for seeing what we all openly reveal everyday that nevertheless remains hidden from almost everyone.