On Christmas Eve

There's a lot to be said for someone who will just dance...let loose, unembarrassed, worrying about nothing except having a good old time. Pammie would dance anytime, anywhere. Just turn on the music, and off she went.

Christmas Eves at the Clarks were always a blast, with the traditional food, drink, and visit by the Oswalds. Other neighbors came and went over the years, but the Clarks and Oswalds were ALWAYS together on Christmas Eve. One year Pam had the great idea of adding dancing to the party. She brought a CD from home and organized a raucous dance of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." It involved making giant rings with your arms, drumming imaginary drums, and twirling like a ballerina.

The idea was met with mixed reviews...some of us loved it, some of us not so much. But even the audience had a ball, laughing and rolling on the floor as we imitated the geese-a-laying. We probably did this 3 or 4 years in a row, with various people joining in or sitting out. One of the pics below even shows Stephanie in her "I don't know these people" phase, but I'm sure she danced with us at least once. I couldn't find a picture of it, but Paul Oswald joined in too at some point, with belly laughs and broken English.

I have to believe that Heaven is full of dancing. I'm not sure if the Angels do it differently than we did, maybe even reverently and with grace. But this Christmas, maybe Paulie and Pam are teaching them the basics, like how to balance on one foot as you imitate a partridge in a pear tree.