She Wanted To Dance

On Tuesday, I had the honor of leading one of my choirs in a performance before a group of a couple hundred people.  About seventeen of these great choir members were dressed, transported, lined up, appropriately adorned with matching scarves, and stood waiting to perform.  During this time, another group was performing.  One lady pointed for me to approach her.  I was happy to do so. She said, “Let’s dance.”  She wanted to dance while we stood in the audience of people who were NOT dancing.  For a moment I thought, “But no one is dancing.”  Then my brain clicked into action, and I thought, “Why not?”  So, dancing is just exactly what we did.  This lady smiled from one ear to the other, she laughed, and she danced.  I totally enjoyed doing this.  This event reminded me to be more spontaneous.  The more time I spend around folks with dementia, the more convinced I am of this.  They are the people on this earth who have life figured out.  No, they may not remember important events from the past or events that are planned for the future.  They may not recognize the faces of people they love, but they know how to seize the moment.  They don’t give one wit what other people think.  They just enjoy today.  While I know we can’t always maintain that sense of self-abandonment, it sure felt good for those few minutes this week.  Let me just say this, “Inus, my friend, I loved dancing with you.  You made me think.  You made me laugh.  You made me smile.  You are a gift!”