Goodnight Sweet Prince

There are lots of things I really like about being involved in a social dance community. One of those things is that you get opportunities to meet & become friends with people that you might not run into in any other part of your life. Unlike taking say jazz or tap or ballet classes, when you go out to a social dance, there's often a broad cross-section of the general society at large. I love that!!

One way this shows up is across age groups. Especially with swing dancing. Since swing hit its first heyday in the 1930s and 1940s, there are some "originals" out there still cutting the rug. Joe & Delores were 2 such "originals" that we have been lucky enough to meet and become friends with thanks to dancing. Old enough to be my parents & married for 50+ years, when I'd see them dance, it was clear I was seeing a happy relationship and a good marriage at work -- partners in every sense of the word.

Delores and I aren't too different in height and have similar face shapes and the same could be said for Joe & my dance partner. They danced primarily a not-often-seen-nowadays form of swing that was what they learned in their neighborhoods growing up & my partner and I can do that form of dance, too. Given those 2 facts, on more than one occasion, we got cast as the younger version of them -- they'd start dancing & reminiscing and (cue the dream music and sepia tones) and voila, we'd take over from there as them 40 years earlier. It was a good effect & we were always happy to work with them. Even more than that, we just loved to see them show up at one of our dances or a dance we went to -- Delores' smile could light up the room & Joe was ever the gentleman. Who wouldn't like seeing friends and getting the chance to hang out with/catch up with just plain ol' "good people"?

So, it was quite a surprise when Delores called over the weekend to tell us that Joe passed away late last week. He hadn't been sick at all; in fact, they'd gone out dancing just a few days before. Without warning, he collapsed & just like that, he was gone.

Abraham Lincoln once said:

And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years.

Joe was blessed enough to have both.

So, in the words of Shakespeare:

Good Night Sweet Prince. A flock of angels sing thee to thy rest.