Thank all of you who came to my birthday milonga! I felt very loved and valued. I don’t like crying in public, but having everyone sing Happy Birthday (which I truly had not expected) made me cry. Thank you for the gifts and cards as well as the kind words, hugs and dances. I am working on being able to receive, instead of only being comfortable giving; and Friday night was a crash course.
Thank you Luisa and Art and Stevyn for supplying yummy cakes for the party :-) For those who asked, the one cake said 60/30/12: 60 years old April 6th, 30 years of dancing tango, and 12 years of marriage April 3rd. A bunch of milestones, all to be celebrated. I am honored by your presence in my life, all of you.
A special shout-out to the four dancers who drove up from Eugene just for the evening in order to celebrate with me. That is dedication indeed. I miss you folks! When I started teaching tango in 1996 in Eugene, I never expected to still be teaching 29 years later. I am so happy that all of you are still dancing!
Another special thank you to the people who came out to tango for the FIRST time since COVID! One person came out for the first time in eight years. Thank you to folks who also came out to their first tango event ever! I am glad you trusted me enough to be brave and get out there on the dance floor for my birthday.
I am so proud of all of you, my students! Someone came up to me and said, “Do you realize that over 80% of the people here have been or are your students?” A day like this helps me see that I have made a difference in the world. Your dancing is beautiful to watch: so many people having fun!
And thanks to those of you who are not my students, but still came out to celebrate. Thank you for welcoming new dancers into the community and encouraging them. It makes a difference in terms of community building to help new and returning dancers to feel welcome and part of things.