A girl's got to have more than one dance

Last night I met a former neighbor at a restaurant/club where my good friend is a bartender. A band I had heard once and liked was playing. We got there a little early so we could grab a good spot at our friend's bar in front of the stage.

We spotted a woman signing her tab, so I asked her if we could have her bar stool when she left.

"I'm not leaving," she said. "I was just paying for the drinks I bought for the people next to me since they scooted over to make room for our chairs."

I was disappointed, but that was nice of her.

"What are your names?" she asked.

So we chatted. She told us her husband, who's eight years younger, was home with the kids.

"Why don't you get a babysitter and bring him with you?" I asked.

She shook her head. "They're teenagers, so he really doesn't need to stay home," she answered.

"Well there you go. Maybe you can drag him out tonight."

She smiled. "He doesn't really like to go out. And I needed a girls' night," she said. "He's kind of an old soul."

Wow. That's exactly what I'm not looking for. In the five minutes we talked, I already knew this fifty-something-year-old women wasn't happy in her marriage even though she never said those words.

"Do you girls like to dance?" she asked."They've been playing lots of Red Hot Chile Peppers."

My friend and I looked at each other. "Yes, but we're saving up for the band," I said. "Go. Have fun."

She did. While the other patrons ate the last bits of dinner and others found their spots to wait for the band to start, she went out into the middle of the dance floor. Solo.

Her arms were at about eye height, and she swayed her hips and head slowly to the beat. She looked totally into it.

As the night progressed and the band played on, we noticed she danced to most every song. Carly Ray Jepson, Bon Jovi, Prince. She danced to them all. And with every dance, her arms were in the air and she swayed her hips and head slowly to the beat. She was totally into it. Into the same dance, to the same slow beat no matter the song or decade or artist.

It made me wonder if she does the same dance with everything. Maybe that's why her husband wanted to stay home with the kids who were too old for a babysitter?

Life's full of so many different songs. Each day presents unique situations and people. She seemed happy with her one dance. Most of us need different dances for each.

Love to the single girls,
Addison