Never too old to dance the night away

https://www.facebook.com/david.gordon.1276/videos/367878502323356/?idorvanity=195190897159263&mibextid=zDhOQc

My sister, Gay, who is only a couple of years younger than I, is showing us what she can do on the dance floor. 

She has a marvelous young man as an instructor in the Atlanta area and she loves dancing with him. Click on the link above and go to the Facebook page where you will see a video of her waltzing with Chris, her instructor.

When we were young girls growing up on a farm in southwest Georgia, Gay wanted to take dance lessons like so many other girls. But we did not live in town where it would be convenient and she never felt she could ask our parents to let her take lessons. I had piano lessons for a short while until I proved I was not going to learn and Mother let me quit. I wish the money that went for my piano lessons could have been spent to give Gay dancing lessons.

But she never gave up her dream. As a teenager, she danced all the time. She learned any new dance that came along and she seemed to always date boys who were good dancers. Maybe that was a prerequisite. 

In college, she danced in the UGA Modern Dance group. She loved it and she was good. One summer she went to Connecticut to a summer dance camp.

After college, she opened a dance studio for children but the location of her studio was not good. Families who lived in the area did not have money to spend on dance classes. Closing the doors was disappointing to her.

However, she danced with the Albany Ballet Company after being discovered in the Miss Albany Contest. She made her own costume and choreographed a dance for her talent. She soon left her hometown and moved to California. There was no more dancing in her life for a while. 

But now in her third act, she decided to take ballroom dance classes so she could dance with professional partners. After a few years with Chris, he talked her into taking part in a competition a few weeks ago. She danced for three days and was so nervous before the event, she could hardly sleep. But she performed wonderfully and gained a huge amount of self-confidence.

In the video above, she was at a different event. She said she felt like she was floating. She had many, many compliments from other dancers and when she watched this video, she was happy with what she saw. 

I am happy for her and so proud of her. She dances three times each week and often she and Stu, her husband, dance on Friday nights. Dancing is great exercise no matter your age.

When we get into our seventies and older, we often feel we cannot follow our dreams. People put us in a box where they put all people of certain ages. 

We can't let that happen to us. 

Gay worked hard to get ready for the competition. I admire her self-discipline. She is healthier than she was five years ago, strong, and able to physically do more than most people her age. I wish I had begun dancing years ago. It is wonderful exercise and a great way to socialize with like-minded people.

To learn more about Chris, visit his Facebook page. He is in the Atlanta area.

A Second Home

Here I am snuggled into bed in my apartment.

On Christmas Eve, I slept here for the first time. I know what it means to be a minimalist now. Borrowed items from my sister's kitchen and the electric skillet I received at Christmas can be used to make my breakfast.  

The rooms are pretty bare, the cabinets and drawers are near empty. Strangely, I feel better here out of the clutter I live in at home. I am convinced that my own home makes me sick. I want to clear out most of what is in my house in the mountains. Much of it will be brought here, but not all of it! During the past two years, I lived almost all the time in my kitchen, dining and living area, and bedroom. When my dining room became my office, the clutter began to grow. I soon was drowning in paper. It seemed that my furniture grew or multiplied and my open space shrunk. One bedroom became a catchall space and no one could sleep there now. Clutter is bad for me, and I will do something about it when I go home.

I have two closets here at the apartment and love all that empty space. I brought some clothes and shoes and will leave most of them so when I come down in the future, I won't have so much to pack.

We had a quiet Christmas Day.

My nephew began to run a fever and felt unwell that morning, so his mother said she thought it best if we didn't come over.  

However it was fun opening presents with Gay and Stu and having our dinner here, just the three of us.

I did not get Christmas cards mailed as I have done in the past. I did send out some Email Christmas letters. I love the cards sent to me by friends and family.

It is so nice to be remembered and to hear from them.

I have a friend on my mind tonight. 

She has been taking chemo for the past year. She is in the hospital now and was under Hospice care at home until yesterday when she was moved to Asheville NC under strong pain meds. She is suffering so much.

That is why I support Compassion and Choices. I watched my sweet husband deal with the horrible pain of cancer and I know, if I had a choice, I would want to have a say in how I want to end my life. I think anyone who has watched a loved one suffer knowing there is no cure, would want that person free of pain more than anything. I know I felt that way with Barry. Unless someone tells the doctor what the patient wants and what the family wants, the doctors will continue to prolong the suffering as that is what they think they are supposed to do.

HOSPICE

My friend, Ellen, a doctor who works in a Hospice Center, says many relatives or close family members will insist they do everything possible to prolong the life of the patient even if he/she is suffering great pain and has no chance of recovering. 

Don't we suffer enough just living with our illnesses and aches and pains, with our losses and griefs? Why make us suffer even more at the end of our lives? 

I am grateful for my kind and loving sister and brother-in-law who do so much for me, even providing a relaxing retreat for me. Lexie is not sure she wants to stay here, but she finally decided, if she couldn't go upstairs with Gay and Smokie, she would stay with me. In her own bed, she is curled up and is sleeping away.

ACCEPT AND MOVE ON

I am trying to look at the positives in my life the past two years instead of dwelling on the things that have been tough, and the changes that will likely be permanent. We must accept those changes and move on in new ways to enjoy our lives.

Hope you have escaped COVID and will have a happy and healthy new year.

 

Lost in the Attic

I hope all of my readers, my friends, had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. 

The weekend is almost over as I sit at my sister's house and write this post. I loved being with family for the holidays.

See Thanksgiving pictures here.

The apartment Gay and Stu are creating for me is coming along nicely. I will have a small kitchen, a very nice walk-in shower in the bathroom with a pretty vanity and mirror.

Today Gay and I sat on the covered deck overlooking the lake. The weather was perfect with sunshine and a slight breeze. The temperature was just as I like it. Cool and crisp. I look forward to sitting there in the future.

I want to take Lexie down to see if she will try to get out of the deck which opens to her fenced area.

She scared Gay and me to death yesterday. We could not find her in the house. Neither of us had gone outside, so we didn't see any way she could be out of the house.

Finally, I said to Gay, "Did she follow you upstairs this morning?" Gay has a large room upstairs which she uses for storage. I had gone to the foot of the stairs and called Lexie, but heard nothing.

Suddenly, Gay had a light bulb moment. "She might have gone up there with me, but I didn't notice." She headed for the stairs. "I wonder if she went into the crawl space. If she did, she could be anywhere up there." I climbed the stairs with Gay right behind me. She headed to a large opening in the back corner. "The electrician left this open and I can't close it," she said. We both called for Lexie again promising her treats if she would come to us.

Gay went to a closed door on the opposite side of the room, opened it, and called "Lexie. Lexie!" 

"She couldn't get in there with the door closed," I said. 

"If she went into that other space, she could be back in here. I heard her little feet overhead when I was in the kitchen." Behind that door that no one had entered for a long, long time, Lexie could be lost.

We called and called. "I hear her coming," Gay said. In a few minutes, my little 12-pound buddy appeared, happy to be found and excited to see us. 

Gay said, "She went into that large opening but found herself in the attic where she could go from one end of the house to the other. I guess she forgot how she got there."

We were very relieved to get her back, and we learned that when curious Lexie is present, we have to check out the premises to be sure she can't go where she should not.

Lexie sleeping soundly

Happy Birthday, Gay

My sweet little sister dressed as Dolly Pardon a few years ago. The guys acted like she was the "real thing."





That is the same lovely smile she wears today. What a joy she is to my life and to all who know her.
Below: The baby of the family was adorable and adored by her siblings. Such a delightful sister, playmate and best friend ever.

Happy birthday, my baby sister. Hope your day was good and the coming year will be even better.
Gay and writer, Darnell Arnoult have something in common besides both being creative people. They both use EFT to help themselves and others. Do you know about EFT? If so, tell us what you think in the comment section after this post.