YOUNG LOVE
This blog is dedicated to the slow dance. I went to one of my 11th graders, Luci's, 18th birthday party this weekend. It was a big banquet, at the Supca ( a local romanian restaurant). Turning 18 is a big deal. 18 in romania is our sweet sixteen, freedom comes in the form of a driver's license. It was the usual romanian affair too much food, a way too big cake, too many bottles of alcohol. Despite the intermitten pleas from Costin ( one of my kids) to "Have more beer and get drunk, Nina!" I found myself feeling nostalgic for the "good old high school days!" It has been a while since i've been to a high school party and I forgot thier allure. Every party has a fight. Bogdan and carmen had an argument that left Carmen in the corner sulking and sad. There is always the one couple in the corner. This time it was Deeana and vlad clutching each other with quiet desperation, making those pouty faces that young lovers make. You can't forget the music monopolizer...which this saturday was bogdan as he continually played only half a song before cutting to the next tract. And then there is the one guy, razvan who dances to every song, smiling, ignorant of the tempo or the beat but bouncing away. Everyone was friends, and the kind of friends who knew each other's parents, who could remember what they did in fourth grade together. At midnight we toasted to Luci's birthday and the boys threw him up in the air 18 times. Then everyone went around toasting and kissing on the cheeks. we danced until two and then i took my cue to leave. but not before the final slow dance. As i watched the couples clutch each other accross the floor i remembered how important the slow dance was. The slow dance was the culmination of high school drama. From the slow dance you could figure out who was in love with who, you could cement friendships and sooth enemies. The slow dance is a virtual cosmocosim of high school life. And there was something so innocent about the swaying to a sappy metal ballad that put me in a sentimental mood. I missed my slow dances. I remembered prom and homecoming. I remembered how the "lady in red" took on new meaning after Sara wore her red dress. How time stopped when i danced the homecoming slow dance with ben. How we hung on to those moments. When the kids complain about school, i keep telling them ( like i was told a million times and i never listened) "enjoy this while you can," because slow dances after high school are few and far between.