free to be

With a room full of eyes upon me, I took my turn twirling around the cafeteria of the assisted living center. The man who had me by the arm was doing his best to chorale me in a graceful fashion. I was bumbling around; it was obvious he knew what he was doing and, hopelessly, I did not. 5 minutes prior to our impromptu rendezvous, he proposed to me over pureed turkey, mashed potatoes and ensure. I held up my hand and flashed the bling. With a shrug of his shoulders and a smile that would break your heart he decided to settle for a dance instead. With the record player crackling out a tune from long before my era, he tilted his head to the side and extended his aged hand with eyebrows raised. "Oh, Lord, please no" was the silent cry that raced through my head. I tried to laugh his request off. I looked around the room for support-or better yet, for another victim to sic him on. He was not deterred. And then, to my horror, the whole room started cheering us on. He was suddenly on his feet and standing before me. As color crept into my cheeks I knew I wasn't going to get away without a spin around the floor. And so, there we went. Hand in hand. This 20 something year old girl with cheeks ablaze and this 80 something year old man reveling in the spotlight. He led without skipping a beat-I’m not kidding, this guy was smokin. Our knees knocked together a time or two as I tried to go one way and he tried to go the other. It was quite a spectacle. All around me were men and women in wheelchairs, smiling big unrestrained smiles-they'd be dancing if they could. They unpacked their pride a long time ago. Everyone clapped; everyone cheered. And this is just a guess but I don’t think they were cheering on my lightness of foot. As the last notes of our dance melted into the noise of the crowd, I got one of those cheek kisses that older people are always a bit overzealous to give away. And then he smiled a big genuine smile that managed to make up for all of the embarrassment I had just endured on his behalf. I went back to my seat and attempted to resume the process of feeding the woman whom I was sitting with. I had one of those moments that occasionally creep up in perplexing situations when I can't help but wonder "what. just. happened?" Marriage proposition over a denture friendly diet, dancing my heart out in the cafeteria to a man with tan, leathered skin and a toupee. If only my friends could see me now. :)