It's been almost one year since I started to pick up swing dancing in Atlanta, and little did I know last fall just the depth of the impact that swing would have on my life.
My first class at Georgia Tech was a nightmare. Up until then, my only experience with dancing was ballet in 2nd grade, some gymnastics dance routine, the sad excuse for dancing in the clubs I did sometimes, and of course, my princess specialties, the chicken dance and freeze dance.
I wasn't exactly a dancer.
So as I struggled to even keep time to a simple six count, stumbling my feet and letting my partner spin me, I felt very discouraged that September night.
But I decided to go back, because I was determined to learn.
I discovered Hot Jam, Atlanta's weekly East Coast Swing event held at a little cabin in Buckhead every Monday at 8:30. I went religiously with my friends Robert and Chelsea, doing my best to keep time and not trip as I shyly sat in the corner waiting for someone to offer me a dance because I was too shy to ask at the time.
I didn't know it at the time, but right down the road from me, someone else was going to start swing dancing just a few months later.
So I kept at it. I went as long as school would allow me, but I did end up skipping a lot of Monday's due to my schedule. I took a hiatus after October and didn't come back until the big dance in December. I had started to grow more confident, but there were only a few people that I was really comfortable dancing with. Still, I tried my hardest, and I'd made some improvements. And I never missed a tech dance - they were the best. Filled with hundreds of people in Georgia Tech's ballroom at the end of every month, it was always the best swing event every four weeks brought me.
I took a break for Winter - I went home to Florida. In January, I found myself back there, and this time, I was deeply invested into learning how to dance. I started attending not only Monday classes, but every dance event I could get my hand on. Swing on Thursday's at Callenwolde - Zouk on Wednesdays - Contra on Friday's - and any swing event at Firefly or the Solarium in Decatur I could find on Facebook. I danced all the time, even with my swing friends as we hung out at home. And I got so much better. My confidence grew. I actually felt good at dancing. I felt free - I felt alive. It was a respite from Grad School's rigorous work, which made me feel as though I lived in a prison sometimes. Stifled and sad. Dance was different. Dance made life fun and colorful. I could even start dancing in the clubs with confidence because I learned how to keep a beat. I made a channel just for swing music on Youtube to practice at home on my study breaks. And I felt like learning to dance was one of the best decisions I had ever made.
The months passed by, and my dancing journey continued, even when I wasn't applying myself to classes as well as I should. That spring semester turned out to be a terrible struggle for me because I wasn't working hard enough. I had to cut back a little just to bring my grades around, which I'm not proud of. But I did it, and I changed, and I made it through. And now I know how to strike a good balance between school and fun.
It wasn't until I started Summer classes and was able to wind down from a grueling semester that I made it back to swing dancing, and that is when my life suddenly fell into place.
It was a hot Summer night, and a live band was playing at Hot Jam. I had gotten into my favourite dress and put my hair up since it was a fancy dance occasion. I arrived to Hot Jam, confident as ever, asking my friends to dance (because I was comfortable with dancing now) and twirling fearlessly and joyfully across the floor. I had been doing this for all of 20 minutes when I walked over to the water fountain for a short break and a drink, and that's when I stumbled across a man in a red plaid shirt. He had a tattoo on his arm and a tattoo of a cross on his chest. I had thought I'd cut him off to get to the water fountain, and I felt bad. So I offered him a dance - and Kris Mason accepted.
I quickly learned that Kris was new to dancing. This was only his second time here, and I hadn't been at Hot Jam the week before. I taught him what I knew, although I'll admit I'm not the best teacher at Swing. Being a follow is a lot different than being a lead.
We danced, and then I went and danced with some other people. Later I went outside because I was low and started eating my nasty Glucose tabs to try and feel better. (Getting low happened a lot when I danced, but it was a cost I considered worth it).
Kris came out and sat with me. We started talking, and I was surprised with how easy it was to talk to him.
We found ourselves on a first date to get coffee, and then we walked through a graveyard (we share a mutual love of strolling through cemeteries).
And one starry night, we found ourselves exchanging our long, sad, happy, tumultuous stories.
I hadn't been looking for anything. Kris was passionate about coffee, and was making a career in it in Atlanta. He played guitar and wrote stories and songs and liked to read. He liked Chvrches. He liked to go on adventures like me. Kris wasn't what I thought my "type" was at all. But I was proven wrong. He showed me something different than anything I'd ever had, and being with him was as easy and as natural as breathing. We just got each other. He understood me, and I understood him. He showed me what a truly good, Godly, healthy relationship looks like. And he's the most kindhearted person I've ever met. Kris will come over early even before I have to go to school just to cook me breakfast and make me coffee. He'll play me guitar songs until I fall asleep as he looks at me, eyes sparkling. He took me to the Jackson Street Bridge, our favourite place in Atlanta, one starry night, telling me to close my eyes as he picked me up and carried me there. "Open your eyes," he said, as he gently set me down, showing me a sight of the city lights that took my breath away. Kris read every single book I had and then some on Diabetes just to learn everything he needed to know to take care of me. Sometimes I think he can manage it better than I can. He does everything he can just to make me smile. We go to Church and worship together. We sing songs together in the car. Kris works all week, but every Saturday he's off, he'll drive me to my princess parties just to give me a chance to study and some good company on the way there. He'll come visit me at school just to surprise me when I get out of classes, iced coffee for me in hand. He'll cook dinner for me at home just to let me study and have some company. He will stay up with me until midnight just to let me practice my Physical Therapy class competency skills on him to give me the best chance of passing that I can. Kris is just genuinely good for me. He brightens my outlook on life and keeps me focused on school while giving me more joy than I've ever had, no matter what good or bad things are going on extraneously.
And he's the best friend I've ever had.
No, a year ago, this is not what I imagined swing dance would do for my life. Give me a passion I love more than anything and give me a person whom I love more than anything. But it did, and that's amazing, isn't it? It's incredible how life works out. I never expected it.
But I am so glad for it.
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