We were practicing the Hammerlock turn for more than an hour, and my turns became off tempo.  After one more turn, I blasted out “I am tired!”

My dance partner at the time stopped and said “How could you be tired? You are younger than me…”  I replied “Because I am sick!”   The teacher happened to be right next to us, partnered with another dancer, both of them came to a sudden stop, looked at me for a nanosecond, and uttered “ Sickness goes away, Sickness goes away…!” simultaneously  did a beautifully spiral turn,   I replied “I wish! I wish!”, and then we all did turns and spins while chanting “Sickness goes away” and “I wish!” with laugher all over the dance floor!

My poor dance partner befuddled for a moment opened his mouth and no sound came out, and then shook his head, smiled, and twirled around with us.  I would give an thousand dollars to see his expression again!

They all forgot I have Cancer!  I am so grateful that life goes on and no one treats me as if I am a “sick person”!

We continued practicing the turns, and the teacher started to play slower tempo music.  The change was so subtle that no one had noticed, and I had a feeling they all felt relief with the slow tempo music after almost 2 hours of bouncing around.  We are not youngster anymore!

The twice weekly 2 hours classes have become my life line now.  When I am dancing I forget I am sick.  When I am dancing, I feel/know I will be fine.  There is an elephant in my life, but no one and even I, see it. 

It is amazing that when you are sick, you can truly categorize the people around you –

The one who pretenders nothing happened, refusing to acknowledge it

The ones, who gave you an insincere sympathetic look (too bad you have it, look)

The one who disappeared altogether (you never heard from them again)

The one who’s talking about their misery and almost like she/him is competing with your illness

The one who treats you like you’re a porcelain doll

The one who hugs and smiles at you every time they see you

The one who greets you with smiles and genuine “Hallo”

The one who asks about your wellbeing with affection, in an honest caring tone

The one, who truly listens to you when you talk about the illness either because they’ve asked or you need to talk

The one who truly and utterly forgets you are a sick person in general, but makes sure you are comfortable and well without special treatment after remembering

I like the last one the best!

November 2014