Ten years ago we met at a dance on Whidbey Island.
Dan was recovering from his second foot surgery. The first surgery had failed and this time he had undergone a total reconstruction of it, which included about 18 inches of screws and a titanium plate (all of which are still there so basically his foot is similar to an immoble club foot). If the surgery was not successful he would have had trouble walking and would never be able to cycle, hike, or dance.
Ten years ago on the night that we met Dan’s foot was not yet totally healed, but he decided to go to the once-a-month Saturday night local dance. He was going “to dance six dances and try out his new foot” but be careful to not overdo it.
Dan says that as he was putting on his dance shoes he looked up and saw me across the dance floor. What he said was that he was immediately drawn to me because I "sparkled." He had never had that experience before. Isn't that sweet? But if I was sparkling then, it was nothing like how I sparkled after I met him.
So he rushed to finish putting on his shoes and then came right out onto the dance floor to ask me to dance. We laugh about this because Dan says that he had to chase me around the dance floor so he could ask for a dance. Good thing he didn’t hurt his new foot before he caught up with me.
As some background: I had danced all my life, starting with ballet at five years old.
And I had started taking ballroom dancing lessons just five months before Dan and I met. I loved it. That night ten years ago, I had no plans like Dan did with his new foot. I just wanted to dance the night away. And I was excited. I had a whole evening to dance, and I intended to dance every single dance.
I was flitting from one dance partner to another and the night was still young. Suddenly I heard someone behind me politely asking, “May I have this dance?” Little did I know that this moment would change my life. I turned around and there was this tall handsome man who I had never seen before. It was Dan, the love of my life.
We danced two dances together, one after the other. On the second one, before the music started, I asked him what kind of dance we would be dancing. One beat of the music and he said, “It’s a waltz.” I was amazed. He had recognized that the song was “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan. At the end of the dance after twirling around the room and successfully following all the complicated moves that Dan led, I was so excited and surprised that I exclaimed, “I’m on the right foot!" We often laugh at this, as it was one of the first things that I ever said to him.
The next day Dan showed up at a dance class that I had mentioned I was taking. He had been dancing for four years and there was nothing in that class that he could possibly learn that he didn’t already know. But he wanted to be around me and slowly let me get to know him. He didn't rush me, push me, try to date me right away, etc. Again, how sweet and innocent.
And it worked. His enthusiasm for life, his energy, and his smile won my heart. After dancing with him for about ten minutes at each of five different dance classes over a period of two months he asked me if I wanted to be his dance partner. As his “dance partner” he took me out out to dinner and a dance and we danced the whole evening with only each other. It was a magical.
Two days later we had our first official date. Two months after that, we were married.
Every year we celebrate March 12th, that day we met at a dance. The day that we spun around the dance floor in each others' arms. The first day of the rest of our life together.
This year we started our celebration in our Turtle. After all, we have spent more than three years living together and exploring our beautiful country in our truck and slide-in camper, so that seemed fitting. We call it our “Little Home.”
Here are some pictures of our anniversary camping and hiking trip this week.
We had to clear off a site at the top of a VERY steep hill up a long, old, very rocky road. Here I am kicking the dried cow poop off of our campsite. Dan says it looks like I'm kicking an extra point in football. "It's up...and it's GOOOD!!"
Dan is my Superman. He threw (and rolled) the boulders away from where we planned to park the Turtle.
This is the hill that our trusty Turtle needed to climb to keep us happy so we could camp at the top of the hill. It was very tight in spots. We had to avoid sharp rocks that could have resulted in a flat tire or that could have punctured the sidewalls.
We were amazed—the Turtle climbed right up that hill! It was the hardest thing in all our years road tripping that we had ever asked of the Turtle.
But it was worth it. This is our campsite at the top of the hill. We were within 100’ of the 800-mile-long Arizona Trail. See us on the right side of the photo? What a view!
We hiked north in the Tonto National Forest on the Arizona Trail toward the Superstition Mountain Wilderness.
We had to leave after a few days due to a rain storm and 45 mph wind gusts. Darn! Look at that sky. Time to get off of that treacherous hill.
So off we headed to Peralta Canyon for more fun camping and hiking in the desert. We knew of a spot close to home and easy to get to and leave if the rains were hard.
Every afternoon we sat out in the desert. I was knitting a blanket for our home. One of these large blankets requires about fifty hours of knitting to complete. Each one is a work of love.
Dan had several model cars that he started building and painting. Each car takes days to finish. They are really miniature cars complete with an engine and undercarriage, and he glues every piece together. He does all the little details of a car, both on the interior and the exterior body. I love to watch him patiently building a car. Each one is a little piece of art.
Every day we hiked in this beautiful desert that is surrounded by mountains.
We only had to travel thirty-five miles from home to enjoy these amazing public lands!
We arrived home on our anniversary, March 12th. On this special day we wanted to be at Nuestra Casa, the home that we created together, the home we love, and the home where we intend to live forever.
In honor of where we met and the wonderful life that we had on Whidbey Island, I gifted Dan our last bottle of Primitivo, Dan’s favorite Whidbey Island Winery wine. The wine is made from grapes grown in Horse Heaven Hills, a stunningly beautiful high plateau in Eastern Washington where we have cycled many times when we rode the Inland Empire Century together and with Jules.
We had been saving this wine for a special occasion, and what could be more special than today, our ten-year anniversary?
For our anniversary celebration I wore the same dress and sweater that I had worn that night when Dan first saw me across the dance floor. He didn’t know my name that first night, so when he later asked other dancers who I was, he called me “The Pink Sweater Lady.” He now calls me My Pink Sweater Lady.
I wear this dress and sweater every year on the anniversary of the day we met.
We had fondue for dinner. And we talked and talked about these past ten years, our life, and our future. We have had so many adventures, and every day had been peaceful and filled with bliss. We have so much more life left to live together.
And of course, like we did 10 years ago, we danced. We danced to all of our favorite songs that have gained great meaning to us throughout the years. One of the songs we danced to was a waltz, “Angel,” the song that we had danced together the night that we met.
On this evening ten years later, we danced the night away!
Here are some pictures and videos of a few of our ten year anniversary dances. We want to remember this wonderful anniversary forever.
Roy Orbison; You Got It (dancing the West Coast Swing. It is a dance that is mainly back and forth. Two historical reasons have been given for this, both interesting. One is that soldiers danced with each other on ships during WWII, and they had limited room on the decks. The other explanation is that after the war, when Hollywood filmed dances, they wanted to get both dancers equally in the frame. So it is a spot dance, meaning that we don't do any traveling around the floor).
Another Roy Orbison, our favorite male vocalist ever, singing one of our all-time favorite songs: In Dreams. We danced the East Coast Swing to this, triple-time.
Ed Ames: My Cup Runneth Over. From the 1966 Broadway Musical I Do! I Do!. Ed Ames recorded this version in 1967 (if you are paying close attention, this is the 3rd 60s song we are dancing to here). Ed Ames is most known for playing Mingo, a Native American in the 1960s series Daniel Boone.
He also participated in the longest audience laugh on the Johnny Carson show when he threw a tomahawk at a target of a man. If you haven't seen it, it's classic. Here it is: Ed Ames throwing a tomahawk.
We are dancing a waltz.
Pink Martini: Splendor in the Grass (not a 1960s). We are dancing the Nightclub two-step to this song.
The New Christy Minstrels: Today (also a 1960 song). A waltz.
