Beauty Divine

It's a rare and beautiful thing when an performance moves me to tears. It even rarer when it gets set in my heart and plays in my mind every now and again. One such performance was Shizuka Arakawa's long program in this year's winter games.

When I first saw it I was still working nights at Comfort Suites. NBC would replay the evening show late at night. I would wait to watch it and avoid all contact of results that would spoil it for me. So there I was all alone, folding laundry. As each skater went up, I found their performances, good but not the best.

Then she came to the ice and a hush came over the crowd. Vanessa Mae's Fantasy On Puccini's Turandot, played as Arakawa floated along. Each move filled with her emotions touching all who watched. I was entranced, each spin, each jump drew me into the story she wove on her blades. As she came near to the close a tear ran down my face as I felt my heart strings tug at the sheer beauty of her masterpiece. It was perfection, and the world thanked her for it!

If you haven't seen it in a while, please visit http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/5072356/detail.html

Shizuka Arakawa is now and will forever be my favorite Figure Skater!