Point Scored and Great Idea
Posted 10/12/2012
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I am in St. Paul this morning, visiting with my daughter and her delightful 4-year-old daughter. As many others have said, being a grandmother (probably a grandparent) is one of the few things in life that is not overrated. Getting here from Boston used to always mean Northwest; since their merger, it means Delta. Delta is heavily into Pink October, even have one plane that is painted pink! Fortunately, that was not the one parked at my gate. But they sell pink lemonade (to raise money for "breast cancer research," of course) and the employees wear various dashing pink accents. When we were preparing to board, the gate agent, sporting a pink tie, invited "anyone wearing anything pink" to pre-board. I was standing right there and suggested: "Might it be better to invite anyone who has had breast cancer, or, even better, any kind of cancer, to do so?" He glared at me, but then announced: "Anyone who is a survivor can pre-board." Point scored.
This link was sent to me by Patricia, who now lives in Portland, OR. It is a marvelous story about ballroom dancing for cancer patients and survivors. As we all know, sexuality, intimacy, and having fun are always diminished by cancer, and this program enables couples to find a way to be close again -- while having fun. I was so taken with the concept that I am already talking to several ballroom dancing instructors about offering a class at next year's Celebration of Life. If that workshop is successful -- and can't imagine that it won't be -- we might be able to expand it into an ongoing program.
Legacy's 'Dance for Couples' class aims to rekindle intimacy during and after cancer
By Katy Muldoon, The Oregonian
Jean Claude Paris and his wife, Maarja Kiesel Paris, reach out and link hands.
He steps -- two, three -- forward. She steps -- two three -- back. Their hips dip and swivel. Their torsos twirl. And as salsa music boils from a portable stereo, the Parises and six other couples find the sort of spark that dancing can ignite, one too frequently tamped out by cancer.
Each pair committed a handful of Thursday evenings to "Dance for Couples," a free class started recently by the Legacy Cancer Healing Center. Its purpose, beyond dance lessons and their inherent fun factor, is to help restore intimacy among couples in which one partner has had cancer.
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