The Dance, by Ricky

          In the fifth grade of elementary school (1958/59), one winter week on a Monday, instead of going outside in the cold and snow our teacher, Miss Herbert, had us stay inside for morning recess.  On that day and the remainder of the week, we learned to square dance and polka.  It was really fun, except for holding hands with the girls, which was tolerated as it was necessary for “the dance”.  Nonetheless, we boys would rather have been outside playing touch football in the snow and slush.  Since we were all bundled up for the conditions, the “two-hand touch below the waste” rule was usually forgotten in favor of full-tackle football.

          In 1958/59 South Tahoe only received Channel 8 television out of Reno, Nevada.  One day in the spring of 1959 I turned on the TV after coming home from school and to my surprise there were many of my classmates dancing on Reno's version of Dick Clark's music and dance show.  Now, I could not have attended because I had to be home to babysit but, I wished they would have at least asked me to attend.  It wasn't rational of me, but I did let it hurt my feelings.

          Once during my high school years, my mother set me up with a date to the junior prom with the daughter of family friends.  I actually didn't want to go and wasn't planning on going but mom insisted, so I did take the girl.  Her parents threw us a pre-prom dinner featuring a small glass of champagne and some unremembered food.  At the dance I danced every slow dance with her (there were precious few of those) and the last dance was also a slow one.  Other than those times, she and I did the wall-flower imitation.  Occasionally, another boy would ask her to dance the fast ones and I did not object.  All in all, I don't think either of us really had any fun.  I can't speak for her, but I was just too self-conscious to go out and fast dance in front of people as I really did lack coordination.

          Even after I married in December of 1973, I was not fond of dancing, nor did my wife ever get me to feel comfortable dancing although she did try quite often.  The only dance in which I am competent, is the one I do while waiting for the bathroom to become vacant.

© October 2012

About the Author 

 I was born in June of 1948 in Los Angeles, living first in Lawndale and then in Redondo Beach.  Just prior to turning 8 years old in 1956, I was sent to live with my grandparents on their farm in Isanti County, Minnesota for two years during which time my parents divorced.

When united with my mother and stepfather two years later in 1958, I lived first at Emerald Bay and then at South Lake Tahoe, California, graduating from South Tahoe High School in 1966.  After three tours of duty with the Air Force, I moved to Denver, Colorado where I lived with my wife and four children until her passing away from complications of breast cancer four days after the 9-11-2001 terrorist attack.

I came out as a gay man in the summer of 2010.   I find writing these memories to be therapeutic.

My story blog is, TheTahoeBoy.Blogspot.com.