In 1976 a group called ABBA released a song called "Dancing Queen", hearing it reminds me of Linda, one of her many talents was dancing.
The first time I met her was at the "E" club on Patrick Air Force Base. She was dancing with various guys and when none were brave enough to approach her she would dance with one of the other girls. Linda loved to dance, I on the other hand had no idea how to dance and like some of the others I was afraid to ask any girl to dance much less the most beautiful girl there.
Linda was part of a group of girls who would take a bus, provided by the base to pick them up, and go to the "E" club and dance with some of the young guys. Her dad had heard about the arrangement and talked her into going, she really didn't want to go but her dad was insistent.
A week or so before I met Linda, I had my first beer, actually I had quite a few of them which resulted in my first hangover and boy was it a doozy. So along came Saturday night and several of us were drinking a few beers at the grill on base, actually more than a few, when someone said let's go to the "E" club. I wasn't so drunk that I was falling down, I could walk somewhat of a straight line but the important thing was that with a few beers under my belt I was brave enough to ask a girl to dance and that girl was Linda. I danced several dances with her before the night was over, I even tried a slow dance and held her in my arms for the first time. When the night was over we parted company and I never thought I would see her again.
It turns out that Linda was attending these dances with her best friend whom she told that she hoped to never again meet that guy, meaning me. Now as luck would have it, her girl friend had her eye on one of the other guys from my outfit but she didn't want to go out with him unless it was a double date. Once again as luck would have it, he asked me to go with him, he even enticed me by telling me how good looking my date was. Linda evidently had a sort memory because she didn't recognize me but even with my blurred memory I remembered the most beautiful girl at the dance. We had several dates before her friend told her who I was, by then I had won her over, our fate was sealed.
We dated for the better part of a year before we married, several of our dates were at the "E" club. Fortunately, the dancing of the day consisted of few steps, it was more gyrating of the hips, a wriggling of the body and occasional shuffling of the feet, at least that was how I did it or so I thought. My room mate said I looked like a character from the sitcom "the Adams Family" his name was Lurch and he moved around very stiffly. Linda on the other hand was like most girls of the day, she knew all of the dance steps. After we were married we didn't dance as much for the next few years not until we bought our first house and our parties had music, then we would dance the night away. I continued to be stiff in my movements while she would kick off her shoes and wear out her stockings.
Eventually we made a move to Florida and started a family, my work took us all over the country. Alas we didn't really get the chance to dance again until her dad's 75th birthday, we were in our late forties then, a little heavier, greyer and slower. When the music started I took her in my arms, held her tight and slow danced, her cheek rested on my chest and my face nestled in her hair she still smelled as fresh as it did when she was 17 and I couldn't get enough of it.
We never danced again after that but at every occasion I would hold her tight and bury my face in her hair.
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