It's 24 hours. It's three square meals. It's cartoons, soaps and then a night of Must See TV. No matter how it's defined, it all adds up to one day -- a mere blink in one's life.
I admit it, I take most days for granted -- if not every day. Rarely do I ever stop and think about the 7,600-or-so times I have rested my head on a pillow, or the millions of times I have laughed. I even take seeing fireworks for granted. It's just something that comes around once a year.
Well this year, as I watched the bombs bursting in air over a naval base in West Virginia, yes a naval base, I started to relive the one day in my life where I actually can say I was completely selfless. And all I did that day was DANCE.
Life is a Highway
On most highways, the fast-paced driving and lane changing often is met by disturbing jams, especially at peak times. Yet, as I set off on my dancing road trip at the height of rush hour last March 22, the roads were clear and there was no stopping in sight. I looked behind me toward the entrance of Memorial Gymnasium, my rearview mirror for the next day, paused, and then floored it.
This highway (the gym) was filled with over 150 energetic students, all with a full tank of gas and rearing to dance for a great cause -- kids.
This was no ordinary highway, however. That day, Memorial Gymnasium was transformed for the 2003 Dance Marathon: Road trip.
Now in its fifth year, Dance Marathon, a 24-hour philanthropic dance party featuring themes, games, food and nonstop music, has raised $189,000 for the renovation of the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the University Hospital and the Sarah Du Bose fund.
Sarah Du Bose was born on February 2, 1994, at the University Health Sciences Center, 14 weeks early and weighing less than three pounds. She spent four months in the NICU. She was on oxygen for the first two years of her life due to underdeveloped lungs. Sarah didn't have a normal beginning for her life. In the midst of life support and other high-tech machines, a loving, giving and nurturing staff surrounded Sarah. She had a challenging start, but she is here today, thanks to incredible care at the University Hospital.
The fund was created by her parents to celebrate the miracle of Sarah's life and to support hospitalized children and their families.
"Sarah is a miracle child," Sarah's mother Sally Du Bose said. "But the fund is so much more than just Sarah. It is a symbol for all children and their families."
That $189,000 raised for the Du Bose Fund is in conjunction with the Children's Ball, an eight-year-old black tie affair for friends and family of children either currently in or previously cared for in the NICU.
The Children's Ball is a great chance for DM'ers to interact with Charlottesville community members who share the commitment to help the NICU.
At each Children's Ball, members of the DM Morale committee showcase the event's line dance, a choreographed dance performed every hour on the hour throughout the Marathon.
Performing the line dance at the Ball "gives everyone present a taste of what 'hard core for 24' really means," said fourth-year Commerce student Quan Trinh, the 2003 DM Chair. Trinh was referring to a chant DM'ers take to heart, before, during and after the Marathon: "Hoos go 24, Hoos go hardcore."
Next Rest Stop: 24 Hours
Like many express highways, during this Road trip, there were no exits
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