| At the age of 70 I retired. Happy days were ahead. I | | | | only problem, since I was sure I knew how to dance, |
| could do what I want, when I want and if I want to | | | | was thinking this was going to be soooooo easy! It |
| do nothing that's okay too. I watched daytime TV, | | | | turned out that I was the only newbie in the class |
| did the crossword puzzles, read the newspapers, and | | | | and I also realized there's no partner to lead me |
| kept in touch with friends and family through email. I | | | | around the floor. At first I thought I must have |
| played some games on the computer and checked | | | | turned stupid in my old age, but then realized that line |
| out the internet. Of course, I ate a lot because the | | | | dancing is mostly memory and my memory was not |
| food was there. When I did wander out, it was the | | | | too sharp anymore. I was going to stick with it! The |
| mall or the supermarket where I could buy lots of | | | | dances are a number of sets that are repeated |
| goodies to keep me happy. When you're retired, | | | | during the dance and you have to be aware of the |
| wandering aimlessly through the stores, spending | | | | sequence, what steps come next. Fortunately, I did |
| money foolishly is not what you want to do. So what | | | | not take myself too seriously. Someone once said |
| do you do? I didn't want to be one of those old | | | | "dance as if no one is looking" so that's exactly what |
| people sitting around waiting to die. I could see | | | | I did. I laughed a lot, persevered and promised myself |
| myself falling into a depression. Would you say I | | | | I would not give up. I finally did it! It all fell into place. |
| needed a new challenge in life! | | | | The moral of the story..... dance class is much less |
| The day of awakening came with a phone call from a | | | | expensive than doctors and psychiatrists; it gives you |
| friend. "The Parks Department has a Community | | | | a natural high! I lost weight; I lost inches; I started to |
| Center nearby; they have all kinds of classes; let's go | | | | eat healthier when I saw the weight loss and my |
| check it out." Now, I thought, what could I possibly | | | | memory has improved tremendously. I'm exercising |
| do there? What I did find there was a low impact | | | | my brain by learning something new with each dance. |
| aerobics class that would help me take off the | | | | I learned so well, that at the age of 75, the Parks & |
| weight I had managed to put on. I joined the class, | | | | Recreation Department offered me a job teaching |
| had a good time and met some really nice people. | | | | line dancing. My students always compliment me on |
| They were all discussing the line dance class they had | | | | my youthful looks and demeanor; something I don't |
| joined and what fun it was. When I was about 10 | | | | mind hearing. |
| years old, my brother who was five years older than | | | | I just read that Socrates learned to dance when he |
| I, used to practice his jitterbug on me and I grew up | | | | was seventy because he felt that an essential part |
| dancing during the wonderful era of the big bands. I | | | | of himself had been neglected. Isn't it funny that with |
| didn't get to dance much later in life and forgot how | | | | all the aches and pains that come with age, I don't |
| much I enjoyed it, | | | | feel a bit of pain when I dance? It must be that |
| With a bit of trepidation I joined the line dance class. | | | | 'natural high'. |
| It wasn't just country music anymore. They taught | | | | For tips on clematis paniculata and clematis tangutica, |
| Mambo, Cha-Cha, Waltz, and I was in heaven. The | | | | visit the Clematis Care website. |