Week 26 - Music and Lasting Friendships

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Week 26 - Music and Lasting Friendships

On Friday night I met two friends, Bonnie and Jartu at Volare Bistro for dinner. The food was delicious. We laughed so much thinking about how much fun we had dancing salsa and traveling together. Yes, I met these lovely ladies while I was out dancing salsa. Bonnie reminded me we are at a club called The Duplex on a Friday night. She said I was at my table just dancing my heart out and she came over to say hello. And that started the beginning of a 20+ friendship, all because of salsa dancing.

Back in the 90s we didn’t have a way to track things unless you wrote them down. There were no cell phones or no handheld devices that you could keep up with things like now… thanks to Facebook I have a few pictures to share of some of my salsa experiences.

My discovery of Latin music was because of a dear friend, Ade, who lived in the same apartment complex with me. She invited me to go to a club. I was not a club girl. I tried it after college; it just wasn’t my thing. At first I said no. She went out with some friends and the next week she asked me to go again. So, I did something new. And doing something new like going out to a club that played salsa music introduced me to a whole new world. I thank Ade for asking me again.

I went from going out that night, to immersing myself in the music. I took a Latin dance class at Georgia State University through the continuing education program. I started going out on Friday nights to the same club we went to, The Sanctuary, which still has Latin Night on Fridays. They had and still have classes before they open for dancing.

Because life continues on we don’t get out dancing like we used to. And when I say we used to, I mean, we would be out 2 to 3 times a week dancing salsa. I kept a change of clothes and my dancing shoes in my car at all times. I might get a phone call or make a call to Bonnie or Jartu, and say, “where are we dancing tonight?”

Bonnie, Jartu, and I have traveled together to Puerto Rico, Miami, and Destin, FL. We have been together since the early 2000’s. In 2009 we traveled to Puerto Rico and when we went to San Juan to go dancing, the place was closed for a private event. When we returned to the Ritz Carlton there was a band playing in the lounge so we had our own party with them. We enjoyed dancing and meeting people and the rain forest while we were there.

Dancing connected me with such a group of generous, kind people. We had our usual spots on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Over the years we have celebrated birthdays and marriages, divorces, losses of parents, children and all the things that span 20 years of living.

It was music, specifically salsa music that brought us together. It is our love for each other that keeps us together as friends. Last year one of our salsa friends, Gregory, transitioned to the Big dance floor and we came together to celebrate his life. Gregory Fitzpatrick gave me this t-shirt, Drop it like it’s hot, salsa style, because I used to do a dance move where I would drop down to my heels, come back up and do a body roll… the good old days! We came together as a community of dancers to celebrate Gregory’s life with dance. It was great to see each other and feel what only music can make you feel.  

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