I exercise every day even when I do not feel great. I fell on 7-2-11 outside the hair salon as I was coming out trying to get beautiful. I slipped to the cement ground and really hurt all over and since it was a designated holiday weekend, that is not a good time to fall. I was able to see the physician assistant at the dear doctor office that was still open and he checked me over and said I would see bruises in the next few days and would send me for x-rays on Tuesday when the world began again after the long 4th of July weekend.

X-rays showed a bit on the right knee injured and I have been paying for it since then as of today 3-17-11. I cannot dance because of the injured knee and have done physical therapy, Cortisone shots and the new once a month Synvisc which they say takes 6 weeks to take effect. So far, it is only 5 weeks, so here is to the one more week for a miracle.

However, I continue to write my ballroom dance blogs and my Weight Watcher blogs ( lost lots of weight before the fall) and I try to encourage, inspire and instill to everyone to go out and ballroom dance regardless of their now age. I had a lady fan in California start to take dance lessons at age 79.5 because she read my articles and finally got the courage to try dancing. She did well with her lessons and even competed with her. professional teacher and won some medals at the now age of 83. Wow, that is delightful to know and to know that she read my articles online and received the desire to try her long time goal and dance. Her husband was in a nursing home for 20 years and she was depressed and dancing changed her whole world and gave her a social life too.

So I am, I hope only incapacitated for a short time more and I hope that at age almost 77, I can go back to my beloved ballroom dancing in a few months. I earned over the years of 1978-2002- 58 trophies and medals for my competition work with my various pro teachers dancing in competitions in Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, Kansas and Florida. They reside on specially built trophy wooden shelves in my kitchen.To admire them and view them with my love for dancing keeps me going. Along side of my love for husband of 50.5 years, my son, daughter, daughter-in-law, son-in-law and 3 gorgeous grandsons ages of almost 19, 16, 6 and one granddaughter almost 4, dancing is next on my love list. It provided me with a social life, a good stimulant for the brain because in dancing you surely use your brain, feet, arms, body and soul to be able to perform.

I urge anyone whoever had the thought to learn dancing and did not do it because they thought themselves too old now, forget that.Go out take some group lessons which are less expensive than private ones and see how well you fit in and do it. My professor back in 1968 when I went back to get a college education at the old lady age then of 33.5 wrote in my first essay booklet "Mrs.Clayman, you can and will do better." I could not have done better having him to encourage me to excel and then accomplishing in 5 years and graduated and felt wonderful because I had done ‘better.’

So you go out and you excel, accomplish and feel good about yourself because you took up ballroom dancing which is not like you see on Dancing With The Stars. That is all nonsense because no normal person can take lessons for 7 days a week, 7 hours a day and be normal still.That is all television hype of the worse kind.Regular people take one lesson or two at the most per week for only one hour and go to a studio dance for 3 hours once or twice a week. That is it.They could not afford 7 hours of lessons, nor could their body take so much exercise. It is more pleasant to take it easy when you first start, enjoy it, learn it and feel positive about doing it.Watching Dancing With The Stars may make you want to try to learn to ballroom dance but it may deter your desire because you feel it looks too tedious and tiring. Your learning experience in the beginning will be sweet and you will feel good at the end of each lesson, whether it be private if you can afford it or group lessons which are less expensive and are a good way to start out learning.

Do not fear learning at any age, look forward to this new activity with great and exciting thoughts. A whole new world will open up to your heart, soul and mind and you will experience something so fabulous that you will wonder why you waited to learn ballroom dancing and you will be stimulated and energized. I promise you that will happen.

So you accomplish that many splendored thing mentioned in the movie of that title and you will have done better than you had even perceived you would. You will now know that splendored moment and moments will be splendid dancing.

Elita Sohmer Clayman Baltimore, Md.

elitajerrydancing@verizon.net

April 2011