Wednesday, January 11, 2012

off topic but a very special occasion...


the last waltz...



(may take awhile to load)
...this is my 100 year old Dad dancing at his birthday bash yesterday - 10th January.. The residential aged care facility where he lives threw him a party to mark his BIG, BIG birthday... The organizers went to a lot of trouble to make it a memorable one for him... One of the surprises they had  was to have a couple come in from a local dance school to do a demonstration. Dad had taught and competed in ballroom dancing in his very early days so this was really special for him... At the end of their demonstration the young woman approached Dad and asked  if he would join in her in the last dance - a waltz... After an initial hesitation he managed a few steps... For a nanosecond it was as if his younger self 'stepped in' and his old body remembered its younger days... It was quite stirring to watch him as he moved with her across the floor... And as you can hear in the background there was lots of encouraging clapping and cheering..  A wonderful day was had by all but I think a very overwhelmed and tired 100 year man wouldn't have been too long out of bed last evening...

Here is a shot of my Dad and Mum dancing... Mum would have been about 18 or 19 and Dad would have been about 22 or 23... I don't think that they were married at this stage...

This was a glamour publicity shot... Little did these two young people know what was ahead of them as they stared off  into the distance....

Until later, take care

Sharon  x x

4 comments:

Arlene White said...

This is a wonderful off topic story. Congratulations to your father for his 100th, he and your mum were a stunning couple, he almost looks like Fred Astaire.

Arlene
http://arlenes-crafts.blogspot.com/

Aussie Stitcher said...

Sharon that is amazing, thank for sharing. I hope that you Dad had a wonderful birthday.

Gina E. said...

Your parents sure do look like movie stars! I couldn't get the video to show up; would love to see it over at your place some time. Glad to hear the 100th birthday went off well; what a relief that it wasn't a stinker of a day weatherwise.

summer pickles said...

Hi Sharon, how beautiful. Your Dad looks amazing for 100, I hope he had a wonderful day. You can see the joy on his face when he is dancing (I got teary watching your video). Love the photos of your parents too, what a stunning pair! xx