One of my best friend’s sons got married this weekend. It was a beautiful evening and the reception was a blast. One of my favorite parts of any reception is the dancing.

I love to dance at weddings. I especially love all the corny wedding dances: The Chicken Dance, The Electric Slide, The Cupid Shuffle just to name a few, and feel slighted when they are not included in the evening playlist. I have been known to ask the DJ to play them, most often, he says, “The bride explicitly said we can’t play those songs.”

OK, I will yield to the bride. But fair warning: I am trying to learn to dance to Thriller.

With complete abandon I spend most of the night out there with a group of gals my age, mixed with younger gals and sometimes my hub (on the slow ones!) dancing to almost every song. I sing with the ones I know (Taylor Swift’s “Shake it Off”, Meghan Trainor’s “Dear Future Husband”) and countless others that I don’t know the name of, taking countless moves of the young gals and trying them on.

 It’s a spectacle I’m sure.

I know I don’t look anywhere near as cool as I think I do…being my age and all (especially the ALL!) My hub gave up a while ago glaring at me with a look that said, ”Really??” My boys do a mixture of shake their heads or join me on the dance floor. My DIL, Morgan, has been a constant dance partner for the past few weddings and I have to admit…it’s a bonding experience.

This weekend’s wedding had something that I had never seen before at a wedding, a Mother-Daughter dance. Towards the end of the dance they invited all mothers and daughters to join them on the dance floor. Now, this mother/daughter thing is an anomaly to those of us with only sons, but my heart leapt when I saw my sweet DIL walking towards my table and motioning for me to come join her on the dance floor.

She’s adorable and now I am a 100% convert to the idea!

When my #3 son got married in October, for our dance we chose, “Wagon Wheel”, the blue grass song by Darius Rucker and we did a lively dance that we had practiced on our patio for days. It was such a highlight for me as our friends and family gathered around the dance floor and sang and clapped while we danced.

 But, aside from just plain loving to dance, I dance for another reason. I dance for my dear friends whose time here on earth was cut short by cancer and will never dance at their daughter’s weddings. I dance for my sweet sistas, Sue and Pam. It has been 2 years since they passed on and it still feels surreal. Pam was one of the wisest women I have ever known. I still hear her words in my head. I hope I always do.

Sue was a sister soul mate. She was my walking buddy, and every Saturday breakfast companion. I couldn’t go back to our walking trail for a year after she passed. She left behind 3 beautiful daughters, amazing young women who live life with the same passion and vitality that Sue embodied. My darling friend won’t be there to dance at their weddings, but I will.

And so will another friend of Sue’s…we will fight over who gets to do the mother/daughter dance. Actually, we’ll probably just do it together and it will look like a mosh pit.

Sue would be so proud!