It was a like our own special holiday celebration. Just me and Tina and Jiro. Every year we would get all dressed up in our fanciest of fancy clothes, then Jiro would take Tina and me to the fancy old theater downtown to see the Nutcracker ballet. Afterwards he would always take us to this super fancy French restaurant in the lobby of a uber posh hotel that we were too low class to actually stay at.

It was our holiday tradition, that for just one night we could be fancy too.

The thing is, the Nutcracker ballet, like the whole thing, is long as hell. Way longer than most six year olds can sit through.

So some years Tina ended up konking out half way through, and on all the other years she would end up getting all fussy and wanting to run around when she knew she wasn't supposed to.

And that’s just what she did this year.

First she started wiggling her butt in the seat. Then she started bouncing and trying to scoot herself out of her spot and into the aisle, and before Jiro could grab her, she was skipping up and down the stairs heading towards the stage.

Jiro whisper yelled after her.

“Tina, no, get back here!”

And had to hunch nearly in half to chase after her down the aisle, to much squawking from annoyed parents.

And that’s how we ended up standing in the back of the seating area. Behind the last row of seats there was a big open space before you got to the doors. It was really dark back here, and we were so far away from the stage, I could barely see the dancers in the distance. But the music was still nice and loud.

It’s where all the other parents with fussy kids where trying to quiet them.

Jiro didn't try to scold Tina or remind her to behave at the theater, instead he just held our tiny trouble. Her bitty booty sitting in the sling of one arm and Tina’s tiny hand held in Jiro’s other hand. Slowly, gently, Jiro waltz around the small space with my baby sister, his steps keeping perfect time to the music of the ballet.

Uncle Jiro loved ball room dancing and could glide around a dance floor with the best of them. I leaned against the curtained wall in the back of the theater watching them. I'd seen the ballet a half dozen times, so I wasn't missing anything on stage. But the enchanting dance back here, I wouldn't miss this cute scene for the world. The best ballerina in the world couldn’t compare.

Glancing around, I wasn't the only one watching.

More than half the mommies and a couple of dads had stopped with their shushing of little ones, and were staring.

It isn't everyday that you get to see a muscly tough guy like Jiro dancing with a teeny little angel in his arms. And even I had to admit that though Jiro looked like a seriously scary guy on most days, he clean up really good. He was wearing one of his fancy old suits, charcoal black with blue pin stripes so narrow and dark the almost were invisible, back from the days when he was still in the mob and before I made him poor.

Right now, he looked damn sharp.

And of course Tina, she was always the cutest. The frilly dark blue dress with the white lacy snow flakes and faux fur trim was just a nice bonus.

Lights from the stage flickered and danced, some drifting over the back wall of the theater where Uncle Jiro and Tina twirled, and for a moment it looked like the were spinning in a real life snow globe.

Yeah, this was the best ballet ever.