Shall We Dance?

Tonight, I heard some horrible news about a person that I haven't thought about in 20 years. Now, I can't stop thinking about him.

M and I were casual friends in high school. We were in choir together for four years, and had always been friendly. We got to know each other much better when we were cast across from each other as the leads in The King and I our senior year.

I have always hated to dance. I have no sense of grace and have always been so clumsy. Of course, one of the most important scenes in the show was when Anna showed the King how to polka. We rehearsed that scene for weeks and weeks and weeks, and finally got to the point where it looked like I was leading but he still was. He was always patient, and gracious, and never made me feel like the clumsy oaf that I was.

One night during a show, it all seemed to click. We whirled around the stage, hoopskirts and all, and ended the scene with a flourish as he spun me around. Oddly enough, I didn't fall or trip, and it felt so natural. We threw our heads back and laughed as the audience applauded.

Last Friday, M was hit by a car as he was scraping frost off of his back window. He lost one of his legs at the scene, and is in danger of losing his other one as well.

I can only pray that he will have the strength to get through this and will dance with his daughter at her wedding. Maybe not a polka, but a precious dance just the same.