ONE YEAR LATER

Here I am one year later.  It was a little over a year ago that all this began.  Well... that might not be quite completely honest.  Let me start over.  Joni and I have been dancing since High School.  Our very first dance as a couple was as two teenagers at a party for the cast of one of the High School Drama productions.  I don't remember which it was,  Fiddler on the Roof... perhaps Brigadoon.  I don't remember and it doesn't matter.  What I do remember is how beautiful Joni was in her pink formal gown... and the song.  It was Chicago's "Colour My World".  "As time goes by, I realize... just what you mean to me..."  Oh... I almost forgot.  We also did some choreographed dancing in a Choral group that we were a part of.  But... Ballroom Dancing... that all started a little over a year ago.

We were on a cruise on the Carnival Dream.  Nightly we watched couple who "knew" how to dance, as they foxtrot-ed and cha-cha-ed themselves across the dance floor in the Atrium Lobby.  They looked awesome.  I thought to myself, Joni and I could do this.  But it was not those particular great dancers that ultimately inspired us.  They might have struck the match, but they were not the ones to light the wick.  That distinction goes to an elderly couple that was also on that cruise.

They had to be over 90 years old, or so I thought.  He was shorter than she was.  I would be surprised if he was over 5ft. 6in. tall.  His glasses were thick with dark plastic frames.  There were held securely in place by an elastic sport strap.  It all struck me as rather odd.  She just stayed attached to his arm and smiled... a lot.  He too smiled a lot.  And then the music would start...

Out on the dance floor then held each other and moved and swayed together.  When a faster song would begin they would bounce a little, twist a bit... and smile at each other... a lot.  I couldn't help but wonder about the conversation they must have had with their children.  "We're going on a cruise.  We're going dancing."   I imagined their 70 year old children worried about Mom and Dad...  Would they be safe?  Would they get hurt?  Or lost?   I laughed at the idea that this wrinkled old couple was having the time of the life dancing together, and worrying their children.

Late one night, well past what must have been their normal "bed time", they were gettin' their groove on... the dance floor was packed... and as the song ended there they were, right next to us.  Another couple nearby smiled and said, "I hope you don't mind me asking... but... your age??   Would you mind telling us?"  To which, with a huge smile, he didn't hesitate a response.

"I'm 85"... and then turning to his wife, he said, "She is 86."  She looked at him with eyes of romance and love, smiled, and put her head on his shoulder."  The look they shared together was priceless. 

The other couple said something else, like... "You both look great...", or something such as that, I don't remember exactly.  It was then that I caught the elderly man's attention, and I said to him... "You are my inspiration...  When I'm your age, I want to being doing exactly what you are doing."  They both smiled and returned back to their table to catch their breath before the next song began.

I watched them dance several times again during our week at sea.  I will never forget them.  Within 6 weeks after we returned home, Joni and I had enrolled in Ballroom dance classes at a nearby studio.

Here we are 1 year later.  I have lost 25 pounds.  I have better posture than I've ever had in my life.  I am more flexible and have less muscle aches and pains than I've had in the last 20 years.  Joni and I have enjoyed many, many hours of dancing together.  We've learned a lot, and yet need to learn so much more....  I just hope when I'm 85 yrs. old, and Joni is 86, that we will be seen dancing together somewhere out in the middle of the Caribbean... worrying our kids.