Just Dance

I've been friends with this young lady's family since long before she was born. Many years ago they moved from the Big Smoke, or as we call it, Toronto, to the country not far from where I live now. In fact, both of her parents are nurses and she was born at home in the upstairs bedroom. They sold that house not too long ago and are now renovating a huge barn on a beautiful hill overlooking Lake Ontario.

This picture is taken in the barn long before they started their renovation of it.

The young lady is in college now and starting her degree, along with the next chapter of her life. I've accepted more invitations to come and see her dance than I could ever possibly remember and it was my pleasure to support her every time, and sit there for hours on end watching everything from up-and-coming pros to young ones barely stable on their feet. It certainly wasn't So You Think You Can Dance, but we always had fun. And more importantly, the smile it put on her face was worth more than every mile I ever drove, or klick as we’d say here in Canada.

Her dad and her mom also have been some of my very best and closest friends for more than 20 years. My buddy, her dad, has been a nurse at SickKids Hospital in the burns and plastics unit for more than 25 years. He doesn't talk about it much and you wouldn't be able to read much from his expression unless you had eaten at least a ton of salt with him. Eating a ton of salt is an old Italian expression that simply means in order to know someone you truly would have to eat a ton of salt with them. Imagine how much salt you use on your food in a day, and then imagine how long it would take you to eat a ton. That's how well you get to know someone after that period of time. Him and his wife know a little something about joy and sadness. My friend's wife also volunteers at a local hospice where she comforts people in their final days.

You may be asking yourself what all this has to do with dancing, but for me it's completely obvious. Just Dance. I have a fairly firm grasp on the realities of life and it is not lost on me that none of us are leaving this life alive. But until I'm gone from this Earth I will take every opportunity that I can to have a great time myself and give others the best time I possibly can. A large portion of the shows I sing are specifically designed for seniors in retirement and long-term nursing homes. One of my standby jokes when I don't see a lot of people dancing is to say, go ahead and get up and dance because when you're putting your teeth in that glass tonight you'll sure wish you had.

J.U.S.T. D.A.N.C.E.