today feels like no other

On the morning of July 19, 1986, expecting adoptive parents Martha and Ryan Moloney, received a phone call that would forever change their lives; a birth mother, Jennifer, had gone into labor and selected the Moloney’s as the parents for her daughter. The duo rushed to the hospital to be there for the birth of their daughter at the request of Jennifer who wished for the newborn to go from the womb into her new mothers arms. The moment was unlike any other for the Moloney’s when Martha held their daughter for the first time and looked down to see the most beautiful baby she had ever seen in her life. Staring into the newborn’s blue eyes, Martha knew that the baby in her arms was always meant to be theirs and that finally after years of struggling to conceive a child of their own, their prayers had finally been answered; naming her Charlotte Ann Moloney.

Growing up, Charlotte was given the best that the Moloney’s could provide for their daughter, whom they could never say no to. The red headed little girl proved to be both a breath of fresh air and source of stress as she grew older, constantly being a source of exercise and laughter to the married couple. Full of energy, Charlotte was often teased by her parents that she learned to run before she could walk. And even when she did learn to walk, she preferred running as her method of movement. At the age of two, she began taking dance lessons at Martha’s studio in Denver. Wanting to follow in her mother’s footsteps, Charlotte first learned ballet before taking lessons in tap, jazz and hip hop by the age of ten. It wasn’t until she was six years old that she would realize that unlike her classmates who shared similarities with their parents, that she didn’t share her mother’s blonde hair or her dad’s brown eyes and asked her parents why that was so. Unprepared for the question, Martha and Ryan explained to Charlie that they had adopted her at birth. Still too young to understand completely, the small redhead hugged her parents and told them they were the best parents she could have ever hoped for and that she loved dance as much as Martha, making her their real daughter. As Charlotte furthered her education in dance, she would begin assisting her mother in teaching classes at the studio by the time she turned thirteen.

Despite dance being a passion in her life, Charlie managed to maintain a healthy balance between her school work, an active social life and dance as she entered her high school years. As a prominent member on the school’s “Universal Rhythm” dance team, she participated in many of the school’s activities from pep rallies to group performances and even having a hand in some of the choreography for the spring musical productions. Her high school years were spent in the better graces of her parents, only occasionally being caught getting in past curfew and breaking a few rules with the occasional skipping of classes. Charlie excelled best by keeping herself busy and never letting a dull moment go by. In her senior year of high school, Charlotte received acceptance letters from several colleges across the country but eventually decided the dance program at Arizona State University was where she wanted to study.

In her sophomore year at Arizona State University, Charlie was asked to join her roommate at an open call for dancers at Christie’s Cabaret in Phoenix. Unsure of what to expect and finding the idea mildly entertaining, the red head agreed to go. Money was tight, jobs were hard to come by and it beat the idea of finding another roommate for an already cramped apartment. What she didn’t expect was that her “audition” would be a solo adventure between the club manager and herself, a nerve wracking and clumsy experience that she’d never forget. After the audition and changing back into her clothes, Charlotte was lead back into the manager’s office for a chat. The club didn’t have a red head working at the time but his expression said that he was unsure if she had the right stuff for the job. Booking the nineteen year old for three shifts the following week, it was the start of an unexpected career move for Charlotte. Earning $800 in her first night at the club, it became the first of many nights in her five years of employment at Christie’s Cabaret.

Charlotte was content to continue living her life in Arizona until she received a phone call from her mother, her uncle Charles was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer in January of 2011 and he was refusing medical treatment. It didn’t take long for Charlie to pack up her entire life and move to Boston, her uncle had always been one of her biggest supporters and had been at every one of her performances since she was two years old. She took on the responsibility of helping care for her uncle for the next three months; her days filled with housework and doctors appointments while her nights were once again filled with a new job at the Squire Lounge until Charles eventually passed away. Inheriting an old but new to her car and a little bit of money, she set aside the inheritance for a dance studio she wished to open of her own. With her work in the exotic dance industry and the rising popularity of pole fitness, every dollar she earned from that point forward went towards saving the money for her studio.

In the winter of 2011, after missing three periods in a row and every home pregnancy test coming up negative, Charlotte went to her doctor for a final blood test. Concerned that an unexpected pregnancy would create a bump in the road as she drew closer to the opening of the dance studio. What she didn’t anticipate was that her blood tests would come back as indicating that Charlotte was going through premature menopause, a genetic condition inherited from her birth mother. The birth control she was using had hidden all the symptoms of the menopause and neither she nor her doctor saw it coming. Charlie’s diagnosis didn’t hit home until the day a college friend had called to announce her pregnancy and the realization came that she, like her adoptive mother, would be unable to bear a child of her own. Struggling with the sudden feeling of being less of a woman, the loss of being a birth mother and the loss of her own sexuality; Charlie spent the majority of 2012 in a depression while continuing the work to open Allure Fitness Studio. The distraction of the studio helped Charlie work through her diagnosis and eventually became one of the biggest contributing factors for her as she found her way back to being the confident woman she had always been. While still struggling with depression, Charlotte continues to see a therapist and have a better understanding of the cards life has dealt.