Thursday, July 2, 2009

Theme Thursday - Funky

The folks over at Theme Thursday have a doozy this week: Funky.

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When you're a kid, weddings mean long mornings of staying clean, of dressing up in funky clothes you hate and funky shoes that are torture devices cutting into your skin.

Weddings mean endless reprimands to behave and be quiet. Of being told to smile, to shake his hand or kiss her cheek or fix your funky hair or stop fidgeting.

Weddings entail listening to drunk adults tell funky jokes and give awkward advice you are either way too old or way too young for. They involve too many people, too much time and too little fun of the kid variety.

And weddings involve being forced onto the dance floor and into funky moves with people who can't dance and with whom you don't want to be dancing.

Your grandmother is up there, 80-something years old, having a blast because this is what she has been waiting for. She is smiling, not just because she remembers all the moves, but because she is part of the crowd. Everyone is included, and for an all-too-brief moment in an otherwise boring day, you have some fun.

Now, so many years removed from being a kid, you think back on those days with a forgiving memory.

The day didn't last as long as you thought it did. The clothes, even if the styles are bad in hindsight, weren't that uncomfortable. And it really wasn't asking too much to behave and be quiet for one day, now and then.

You realize why some of the adults drank a little too much, and told the jokes you thought were so lame. You shake your head and smile as you catch yourself telling these same jokes, even staler now, to the kids around you.

And you think back on those long ago people, the adults of your childhood. So many are gone now, their time past. Their bad jokes and weird advice left to memory. Yet remembered still. Maybe not so lame after all.

When the DJ starts playing those old dances, you remember the one truly fun memory from so long ago. And you remember your grandmother and her joy at dancing, at living in the moment.

You get up on the dance floor, pulling some reluctant kid or embarrassed teenager with you. As a group, you share the bizarre moves of some old dances, and you realize funky wasn't so bad after all.

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Thanks to my buddy Jeff for some late night editing help!

Check out what the other participants came up with!

20 comments:

  1. My god, I despise weddings. If some dazed fool is ever dumb enough to marry me, I'm doing it on the side of a river somewhere with a maximum time of ten minutes. Either that or just sign the papers in some government building, then watch movies all day :D

    - Zac

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  2. Very good piece. Different take on funky!

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  3. I thought that was friggin great, I was expecting a movie review of "Superfly" LMFAO!

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  4. Aw Wings that was lovely! So true about the granny remembering the moves, play Nutbush City Limits and see how many oldies can remember the Bus Stop! (two more bit the dust today . . Carl Malden and that Mrs Slocum woman from Are You Being Served!)

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  5. Wings, pretty good! And I never considered polyester or cordouroy bell bottoms, comfy. Ugh! And yeah, I've caught myself telling those same lame jokes..HA!

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  6. Love your description of the grandmother. It's what she had been waiting for! Wonderful post.

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  7. So true...I guess weddings, no matter their world-wide diferences, are so similar at their core (at least the feelings and memories:)

    xoxo

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  8. beautiful piece..the pic of granma up there dancing and the look on her face...funky is not so bad. have agreat weekend!

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  9. This really was lovely and very poignant. I teared up!

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  10. Shake Your Funky GrandMa!
    Word Verification for this post is 'storms' which,in itself,kinda funky!

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  11. aw...weddings Are funky! Who knew?

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  12. Okay that was your best theme post ever. I loved the way you came back around and still stuck with the theme. It also brought back mememories of those events we all share. A+ Sir (have to break the habit of grading everything - gave my breakfast a B this morning).

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  13. Your memory is more forgiving than mine, I'm afraid. I still shudder at those memories (but my grandmothers weren't as cool as yours). ;>)

    p.s. Now your secret word is 'swoop'. That's a dancing reference, I guess.

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  14. I love the dancing at weddings. If you haven't seen my mom and her sister jumping around to "Footloose" - well, you've missed out, that's all! :)

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  15. Yeah, we struggle through childhood, end up as adults whose behavior recycles those who were adults when we were kids, and we relish the occasional chances to be kids again!

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  16. Memories are indeed one of the human conditions great equalizers. So nice to trip back.

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  17. A dip and a swirl
    Can make your toes curl
    But that was what I called dancing.

    ty for the memories

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  18. Jeff: Thanks again.

    Zacery: hahahahaha

    Ravyn: Thank you! :)

    otin: Thanks! No "Superfly"... this time! :)

    Baino: And now Steve McNair, too. Sheesh!

    subtorp77: Circle of life? :)

    JGH: Thanks! She was a great lady.

    Marianna: Yeah, they are a shared experience, even if the ceremonies are different.

    Brian Miller: Thanks, Brian!

    Leah: Aw, thanks. :)

    tony: Hahahaha!

    Tom: Well, me! :)

    Cal: Well, thanks! Wanted to be creative this time. :)

    Sandra Leigh: Yeah, well, more forgiving for SOME things. Heh!

    Megan: Sounds like something for YouTube! hahaha

    The Silver Fox: Yes, indeed. Wish it was only the good parts that got recycled. Sometimes, people repeat the bad, too. Ah well...

    Candie Bracci: Thanks!

    J A Harnett-Hargrove: Yes, indeedy! Thanks!

    Dreamhaven: Thank you for the poem!

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