I took one of my teenage sons to a senior center this morning where his swing choir entertained a crowd of elderly men and women. Santa had been there and a big lunch was planned; we were the entertainment in the middle. After the kids performed several Christmas vocal and dance numbers, they asked us to fill some extra time since lunch was late.

One of the boys played piano and the kids asked the seniors to dance. It was one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen, and I was just so charmed by the site of my son dancing and chatting with a sweet older lady. He told me later that he’d asked her if she had any brothers or sister. I cringed, fearing what her answer had been. Sure enough, her brother and sister had passed on, but she enjoyed talking about her kids and grandchildren.

For the first time ever, we have more boys than girls in swing choir. There were many more women than men in the audience, helping the dance partner ratio. One girl asked a gentleman to dance, but he said his wife just died and he didn’t feel like dancing. She asked another, who said he’d just had brain surgery. After that, I think she was wary of asking anyone else.

The funniest story is that one of the boys actually was pinched by one of his partners!