There we sat, Miss S and I, last night at Key Arena in the 9th row behind the Sonics' bench. Between screaming at our guys to actually play defense, jumping up and down and grabbing each other with every clutch 3-pointer, I couldn't help but think about our relatively brief friendship that all began with Pilates.
She and her husband lived a few blocks away from my studio in our original location in Seattle's University District and they both called one day, put me on speaker and asked if Pilates was right for them.
Off I went on my Pilates tangent which ended with them scheduling sessions and the rest, as they say, is history.
In they came, 2 or 3 times a week in spite of their impossible professional schedules which kept both of them over-scheduled and on the road most of the time. After almost a year of weekly sessions, they had to stop coming; their schedules were too demanding and with Pilates in the mix of demands on their time, it was just too too much.
When I say that we love all our clients, I mean it. Simply put, we do not work with people we don't immediately feel great about, and should the passing of time reveal some unpleasant aspect of their personality that interferes with the process of learning (us from them and them from us), we move them on with a kind but clear message that we are not the studio for them.
And because we endeavor to serve everyone seeking Pilates, it's fortunate for us that there are so many studios in this market, we're familiar with almost all of them and we always offer referrals to other studios where we're sure they'll be welcome.
So although Miss S and her husband drifted away, we still adored them and never excluded them from our Studio Life. We sent along our mailings, we made sure they knew when we moved (both times) and sure enough, when their lives changed such that they felt they could reasonably resume their Pilates practice, they came back.
And we rejoiced.
They sold the company that was keeping them so busy and they not only had the time, but both of them were more focused and able to assimilate the work much more deeply than when we worked together before.
Miss S is intellectually brilliant and hysterically funny, to boot - my favorite combination! She understands the work and is often pacing right along with me with corrections. She's disciplined and does matwork and cardio outside the studio. She's a Pilates Evangelical and finds a way to slip it into most casual conversations. We enjoy her so much and she understands Pilates so well that I've told her she should go to Pilates school so she can come and teach with Sister Heidi Sidekick and I.
On a personal note, Miss S and I have supped and run amok together a few times, we've seen our share of Sonics games together and it was Miss S who kindly offered to drive me down to Portland for an important visit to the Casey Eye Institute back in September, just 2 days after I'd returned from Italy and I was tired, overwhelmed and really needed help.
So our lives have mingled, our stories have been told, our bond secured.
And now, once again, their lives have changed and they're both out of the book indefinitely.
This time it's business in Arizona, where conveniently, the sun is shining and it's warm this time of year. They might be buying a place down there. They're not sure where they'll be or for how long. They've already been down there to check things out, tour with a realtor, get the lay of the land.
And Miss S leaves again for Arizona on Thursday, but she'll be back for the Sonics game against Denver next Tuesday where we'll sit in the 9th row behind the bench and scream and yell and cheer and hug our way through another NBA game together.
It all started with Pilates, and I just have to trust that that's where it will end, as well.