Slice of Life #11 Dancing

I have always loved dancing! From the time I was little and figured out how to spin around in circles till I was dizzy, or even before that when Daddy would grab me by the hands and spin me around and around as my feet left the ground. My favorite talent, twirling incorporates alot of dance and my favorite show right now is, "So You Think You Can Dance". I always have to watch movies with dancing in it. I can care less about the story line or the acting. I love watching the choreographed dances. I wanted to be a dancer when I was 12, but some thoughtless words from a young women's counselor crushed my dreams. It was no wonder that while I was single, I was always looking for someone to teach me a new lift or swing move. And that my eternal companion would be a wonderful ballroom and country dancer. I could talk about the dance that we finally had our first kiss at, but I have to say my most memorable dance will always be with my Dad at our wedding. Not because it was the sweetest moments of my life, but the most torturous. I believe it was for my Dad as well and we endured it together, so here is the story...

I decided that Dad should pick out the music for our dance b/c I wanted it to be meaningful for him as well as for me. He picked the song from his favorite musical, "Fiddler on the Roof". The song..."Sunrise, Sunset". Alright, slow song, so it should have been a fairly easy Daddy, daughter dance. Well to make it more special we decided to ask my Sister in law to play it on the grande piano in the ballroom. She was delighted to do so. Well first problem, we didn't specify how many verses she was to play. It has a couple. One would have been enough. Second problem, it is a waltz. My Dad took ballroom a long time ago and taught me how to waltz. But somehow over the years the knowledge of the steps left him. Apparently it's not like riding a bike. He warned me the week prior to the wedding and we tried practicing a couple of times in the office (I was working for him at the time). I thought he had the hang of it, but I guess we needed more practice. This was also right prior to him finding out that he had colon cancer and he was in alot of pain that evening. So we start dancing. After 10 seconds, we were both done. He couldn't get the rythm down right even with me smiling as I repeated it and I was laughing because I couldn't even match steps to his because he kept changing what he was doing. The music kept playing. Problem number three, my dress probably should have been taken up a little more. He kept stepping on my dress. No matter how hard I tried to keep my skirts out of the way. By the second verse one of my bridesmaids took pitty on us and came and grabbed my train to hold it out of the way. We were laughing and out of breath by this time and wishing that my Sister in law didn't have her backs to us, so that we could cut her off. And then it was over. I wouldn't have had it any other way. We must have looked so funny on the floor, and we had no time to reflect on the beauty or meaning of the song, but that's just like Dad and daughter relationships. Laughing and grumbling, dancing and stumbling, twirling and shuffling. And sometimes, to keep from killing each other, we need someone to step in and help.