shall we dance?

#midlife blog crestingthehill.com.au

A few years ago our son married a lovely girl and is now in the process of living happily ever after. Back in the months leading up to the wedding I realized that my husband and I would need to participate in the bridal waltz and neither of us were able to dance (unless you count looking like a drunken giraffe on steroids - me, not him!)

Much to my surprise, on Christmas Day I unwrapped my presents and in amongst them was a card with the picture above on it (my husband does graphic design and this was his handiwork). It folded out to reveal the picture below:

#midlife blog crestingthehill.com.au

and it was accompanied by an invitation to attend dancing lessons at a local ballroom dancing studio. It was the most romantic Christmas present I had ever received. The final fold out is below and I had images of sugarplum fairies dancing in my head - along with mental pictures of me swanning around the dance floor at the wedding looking like someone from Dancing with the Stars.

#midlife blog crestingthehill.com.au

After several lessons, and lots of practice at home, we managed to make a passable attempt at a waltz and pulled it off for the wedding without counting 1-2-3, 1-2-3 out loud as we did it. I don't think we stepped on each other's toes and all in all it wasn't too bad. It did make me wish I was a drinker so that I would have imagined myself being a lot more elegant than I actually was (especially seeing it was a luncheon reception and there was not dim lighting to disguise the performance.)

Needless to say, we haven't done much in the way of ballroom dancing since then and I'm tall and still look gangly and uncoordinated any time I try some dance moves, so I save those for the privacy of my own home. I must admit that I bust a pretty mean groove when I'm decorating the house to Christmas music or when I'm vacuuming to a bit of rock and roll! Still, I survived my moment in the sun as mother of the groom and we didn't need to perform at our daughter's wedding - that was a destination affair in Bali and not much dancing happened on the night - a little hot and steamy for too much physical activity (phew!)

This post was part of the #1Word Challenge - this week's word was "dance"

21 comments

  1. Aw, I absolutely loved this and seriously what an awesome gift from your husband. Definitely glad you got your dancing moment in the sun and very much made me smile this morning ;)

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  2. Thanks Janine - I wish I'd been a little more swan-like but you take what you can get!

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  3. What a sweet story! You and your husband probably cut a lovely figure on the dance floor, your love shines through!
    Carol
    http://carolcassara.com/chard-recipe/

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    1. thanks Carol - not tripping over was a big plus!

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  4. What a sweet and thoughtful gift---and a priceless moment that you two shared. I've been begging my hubs for YEARS to take ballroom dancing lessons with me!!

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    1. I had hoped that we would love it so mcuh that we'd continue but it wasn't quite as easy as I'd imagined in my swan-like mind!

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  5. We took ballroom dance lessons for our own wedding many years ago. The hardest part for me was letting someone else lead!

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    1. Yes Lori, leading was hard to give up - I wasn't a fan of being steered blindly around the room - although his sense of timing was way better than mine!

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  6. That is the most romantic gift! I am in awe! Showing this to my Husby . . .

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    1. be careful Diane - you may be doing a drunken giraffe impersonation before you know it! :)

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  7. So romantic! What a beautiful gift for you.

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    1. it was a lovely gesture - he is better at that sort of thing than I am

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  8. Love fairy tails! Great story you should keep up the dancing.

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    1. thanks Sherry - we give it a whirl now and then but it's not as easy as it looks!

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  9. Who says romance is dead! A lovely gift and fun memories for you both. I would love to learn ballroom dancing although my husband is not really into dancing at all. I just get out on the dance floor and probably embarrass him and my children but who cares - dancing makes me happy.

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    1. dancing makes me happy too Sue - my gyrations around the house are testament to that!

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  10. The sweetest dancers I've seen are more about how they look at each other than how they look. You sound like you're in the former category.

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    1. that's so true Susan - I think we managed to look at each other through the quiet desperation! :)

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  11. Great post! I would love to learn ballroom dancing, but it is not my hubby's thing! LOL! I have even been known to bust a groove at the sink doing dishes. Have a great weekend!

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