Thank you notes

I have a whole lot of people to thank. So, I got some thank you notes. I think receiving a card in the mail is more personal than emailing them. But, I’m old fashioned.

Next I’d like to tell Anthony Robert, who reads my blog, that his writing is very good. Keep at it as I’m sure you will.

Now, while preparing for Dick’s memorial, now delayed, I wrote about how he and I met. Here’s how that happened:

Dick was working at a restaurant, Alta Plaza, on upper Fillmore. I had a hair salon, SOAPS, with partner Barbara McLean, on Sacramento, just off Fillmore. Dick came in for a haircut. While I was cutting his hair, he told me about his love of 50’s and 60’s music and dancing. I responded that I liked to dance, too. After the cut was finished, we stepped out on the sidewalk and basically did our first dance. He stopped and said, “Oh, you CAN dance”.

Shortly thereafter, a regular client, Gilbert Klein came in for a haircut. Gilbert owned “Rock and Bowl”, a combination bowling alley, bar with rock music. Gilbert had been approached by the TV20 folks about advertising on their new dance show. And they were looking for dancers. Gilbert asked if I was interested? Yes, but I have to ask Dick.

Here’s where the challenge lay, my having a B.A. in Modern Dance meant nothing . Interpretive dance paid little attention to the “beat”. Dick was insistent, for good reason. He taught me all the dances, but it took longer to have the “beat” in my body. With 100% accuracy. At one point I was in tears. But, I got it.

The show ran for two years, with Dick and I featured every week to demonstrate a ‘new’ dance. OMG, we had so much fun!

What surprises me, and I guess it shouldn’t, is how viral the outpouring has been after Dick’s passing. I am told it’s all over Instagram, for example. The other aspect is that Dick was gay, although, other than being precise, he had no affectations. Let’s just say, it did nothing for my romantic life. That’s OK. Whatever energy that would have taken was expended on the dance floor.

In Dick’s words, he did a mean Turkey Trot. Ain’t that the truth!