“They may not be so pretty nowadays, but my girls have saved me from breaking a hip more than once.”

This past weekend, my sister and I went with my mom (64) and her friends to a seniors’ singles dance. They go every week, sometimes twice. My parents are still married, but her friends are all sixties singles. My sister is making a documentary about them and attended the previous week’s event with them, so she knew what to expect and was over the surprise. I on the other hand, was pretty dumbfounded.

First of all, I was shocked at how dolled up everyone was. I don’t know what I expected or why. I’ve seen my mom and other women her age out and about and they dress well. But I was still surprised to see older gals in (age appropriate) club wear. These were ladies on the prowl.

Second, I was baffled at how great some of the women’s bodies looked. There were a few younger women there, in their twenties to thirties, and from the back you couldn’t tell who was who. Yes, this may say something about the youngin’s in attendance, but it speaks mainly to the older gals. They were in great shape!

Third, and most shocking, if the lights were slightly dimmer – or if I had more alcohol – I would have had no idea that the room was filled with seniors. I could have easily believed that I had wandered into any random club. How awesome. I don’t know where my misconceptions about older people came from, but they’ve been adjusted to reflect reality.

Also of interest:

• Most of the music was current dance stuff that I totally didn’t know
• Almost all the other women knew all the words to just about every song
• I didn’t notice even one man offer to buy a woman a drink
• (I think they’ve learned that it really doesn’t get you anywhere)
• (And I imagine that they are on a fixed income)
• Men asked women to dance extremely easily, no awkwardness, no aggressiveness, and if they were turned down, they just smiled and asked the next women
• It doesn’t matter how old the crowd is, there will always be a couple on the dance floor seriously making out