Not to be able to go to a dance at the Eagles is yet another long reaching hand of this covid. Twenty years of the same ole people at the same ole dance, my God do I miss them! ! ! But “same ole” is the magic. We have laughed together, we have cried together, we’ve talked about others, yes we are real people. We’ve had good bands, we’ve had lousy bands, but we all showed up cuz that’s what we did. We liked people, we loved people, we DIDN’T like CERTAIN people.
There were cat fights in the bathroom, followed by comforting the crying gal and persuading her to get back on the dance floor. There was one who taught her partner to sway her back and she’d bend her knee up…and out… what a show it was. There was a control freak who made his partner dance the same pattern EVERY dance even though their steps did not match the beat of the song. There was a couple who sailed ACROSS the floor, we never could figure out what they were doing……did I mention the rebellious ones who would not follow the dance floor rules and danced around against the traffic flow? Of course there were the drunks that flung their partners in dramatic moves and failed to catch their hand…..
A really lovely lady was widowed 5 times. Men were afraid to dance with her. Of course we had our share of partners who were humming…”Don’t the Girls Get Prettier at Closing Time?” It was a regular Peyton Place. Ah yes, we loved the circle dance. It was a great time because we girls got a chance with the best dancers there. Some would hold tight with a death grip……I added to the share of memories myself. I came with a date and shortly thereafter I wasn’t feeling good….each minute got worse and worser. We had first been out to eat…a huge meal…and I got nauseous to the point I could’t walk out of there. I started throwing up all over the table of 10 and continued non stop, then I got serious about throwing up and nobody knew what to do with me. It was a terrible night etched in everyone’s mind even till today. Eventually they got me in a wheel chair and I ended up in the emergency room and was in the hospital for 5 days. Bad flu or food poisoning…something like that.
John and Elaine knew me thru the past 20 years, my relationships, my dates. We always made sure we sat together at the same table on New Years…sadly she recently passed. Russ and I got married almost 8 years ago after being at Nelson and Marcia’s wedding 9 years ago and seeing their marriage work. Betty passed some time ago. When I saw her at the dances, it would be like she stopped the world when she saw me and took me by the hand and said how glad she was to see me. I miss Elaine and Betty and so many others struck down with illness and yes, fatal car wrecks, over the years.
Soooooooo many stories. Hopefully some day soon the Eagles will be allowed to have dances again and we will be back with those of us left……Yesterday, Russ got off the treadmill. Willie was crooning out “Georgia”…….and we danced….
