My First Slow Dance

Firsts are always special, especially to females as a rule.  Some firsts are indeed life changing as was my first slow dance.  In my youth I was on the chubby side, thus I was not sought after by males and I lived on a farm so was not really involved in a lot of the youth activities outside of school.  All of which served to make me mostly a wall flower in social situations.  So there I was at one of my school dances on the sidelines watching and listening as Paul Anka softly began Put Your Head On My Shoulder.  At that moment, someone tapped me on the shoulder and asked, “Shall we?”  I knew even before I turned who it was—it was my best friend’s father, who I had a wild crush on.
 He was tall, dark, and handsome besides being charming and witty.  I loved my friend’s mother, but couldn’t understand why she would divorce such a man.  Years later I would come to know the whole story, but at that moment he was Prince Charming and I was in heaven as he led me on to the dance floor.  The dance itself was far from perfect—I was awkward, stiff, and I stepped on his toes at least twice—but it was still a dream come true and I loved it.
 Even now I can hear his rich, deep voice encouraging me to relax and just follow his lead.  He also said something that I never forgot which has helped me to get away from the wall and get involved.  He told me life was for living and enjoying.  Then he added, “If you never try, then you will never know what you are truly capable of doing.”
 The dance ended and became a treasured memory, but the words are with me nearly every day as I face life’s challenges. Those words have given me the courage to try things even when the world around me said I couldn’t or shouldn’t do it.  Sometimes the world is right, but more often trying has shown me qualities in myself I didn’t know I possessed.