The Dating Dance

It is an interesting time of life. The time you pick our your friends and the time you pick out your partner.

For me it was Middle School. That is the time between Elementary School where you just did what everyone else did and you were told what to do and when and just followed instructions and High School where you were making a style for yourself.

Middle School exposed you to organized sports and shared showers, working with power tools, artwork beyond play dough and dancing. Clothing styles and haircuts were starting to make an impression and girls started smelling sweet. The library of reading expanded from pulp comics to mystical philosophy and faith questioning. Filthy words your grandmother would not approve were spewed out along with the first cigarettes and alcohol.

By the time high school rolled around, everyone was looking to be in a couple. Just like an invitational dance, finding the right partner was never easy.

It is an awkward time of half flirtation and partial intimidation to ask another out on the dance floor. A shy rejection could be a life changer. Maybe a one-dance wonder before the search continues.

Friends point out selections and prod a question to scared to ask, for now friends were the stimulation. Girls and boys would hug the walls and giggle and blush at a stranger asking them to walk out onto the floor and be seen together.

When that person made the same moves and enjoyed the wailing of arms and kicking of legs with a joy only the music could sing to, you’ve found your date.

He or she might not be your first choice. They might not be the most stylish or popular or even preferable, but the two of you worked well together on the dance floor.

When the song is over, you both don’t want to leave alone. Get a cup of punch while your friends point and laugh, but it doesn’t matter. There will be another song.

It is an interesting game of ‘tag’ until the music slows down and the bodies get closer. That is when the magic happens.

This one moment may turn into a lifetime of dreams or just a memory.

It is a life adjusting time and should be appreciated.

Bow and curtsy.

Thank you for the dance.