Let Me Tell You 'Bout My Best Friend

A couple years back I was asked to contribute to the summer edition of Rette, White & Blue dedicated to my wife, Shelley. The magazine editors used what they needed from my submission, but I wanted to publish all of what I wrote in tribute to her.

I jumped at the chance to write about Shelley for the magazine. The main reason was my desire for her and everyone else to know how I feel about being her husband and how proud I am of her and all of her accomplishments. The difficulty comes when putting my feelings into the right words that will allow others to appreciate what I feel about her.

2014 began with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Texas Dance Educators Association. Each year, TDEA honors a dance educator with at least fifteen years of service and “who exhibits a true dedication toward the advancement of a dance drill team.” In Shelley’s case, she has dedicated her life to dance performance and education, and no one is more deserving of the honor.

Shelley loves what she does, and it shows in more places than just a football field or an auditorium stage. It shows in places like small studios tucked away in nondescript strip centers, some of which many folks in the dance industry don’t even know exist. It shows in lasting and cherished relationships with colleagues and former students built during thirty years in her industry. And, it shows in her face as she decides on something as simple as a costume choice or as incredibly difficult as choosing 36 girls from almost 100 candidates to carry the legacy of the Rangerettes forward another 75 years.

Shelley doesn’t just love what she does; she loves her students, which I believe is one of her strongest attributes. She feeds off their energy as well as their love and admiration for her, and in turn, what they get from her as a mentor and teacher is immeasurable. However, I’d bet if you ask Shelley who gets more out of the relationships between her and her students, she’d have no problem convincing you that it was she. After almost twenty-five years of witnessing the way Shelley and her students work together, I agree.

Shelley’s involvement and love for the Rangerettes began as a member and officer on the team from the fall of 1985 through the spring of 1987 and continues with 24 years as the organization’s Assistant Director and Choreographer. I’m amazed at how she imagines and produces new and inventive choreography each and every year, almost as if she has an infinite amount of ideas dancing around inside her.

When Shelley speaks about the Rangerettes, it’s always with love and reverence in her voice, often accompanied by moist eyes. That emotion comes from how she feels about the organization and what it gave her: discipline, energy, creativity, and the desire and drive to work hard and succeed.

With an inner energy that gives her strength, both physically and spiritually, Shelley has no problem moving furniture, lumber, fencing, or props, and just as easily, she moves a dancer’s heart and mind with her creativity. She is also capable of breaking a truck window with a scrap piece of lumber and a single mighty swing to save the life of her dying husband, as if I didn’t already owe her more than I could ever repay before that incident.

I travel extensively for work, so the daily operation of our home is also Shelley’s responsibility. As in everything else, she excels in this role. Cooking, cleaning, laundry, home remodeling projects, sick dogs, our daughter Ryan, and a husband who whines constantly about working away from home; she manages all with ease.

One might think all this pressure and responsibility would take a toll on her, but Shelley is more beautiful now than when we met almost thirty years ago. Part of this is her incredible physical beauty, but mostly it comes from her confidence in who she is as a person, whether in formal attire or blue jeans and boots, always wearing that million-dollar smile.

As my wife, she is strong and independent but also supportive and nurturing. She is an excellent mother and mentor to our daughter Ryan, and I am proud of the bond that they share. Ryan has followed in her mother’s footsteps, but not because Shelley pushed or pulled her through those footsteps. Rather, Shelley only guides and assists when asked or needed and always allows Ryan the freedom to be who she is.

In short, she is my best friend, the reason I’m still alive, and the person I’d most like to be stranded with on a desert island. I am honored she chose me as her husband and can only hope you are all able to see her as I do.

Michael Wayne