Maureen, my wife, had major surgery


on her back approximately two years ago. Since then she’s had more back problems, starting at the beginning of this year. She has also suffered from Fibromyalgia for a number of years now, so her back problems are a real handicap. Something as simple as getting out of the shower causes incredible problems for her. After seeing her consultant on numerous occasions, repeated scans and X-Rays determined that her problems are inoperable. To make matters even worse Maureen cannot take any painkillers that contain Codeine, as she’s allergic to it. Which means that Paracetamol is the strongest drug she is able to take to try to alleviate


dancing but we never had any classes due to my working away. I used to do the occasional guest spot with local clubs in our area. Then one day Maureen suggested that we start our own classes, I agreed but pointed out that she’d need to keep things going while I was away. We started out small and the classes grew gradually. But Maureen didn’t just keep the classes ticking over while I was away she kept them going at full throttle, I usually had six to eight Intermediate dances to learn every time I returned home. Hard task master or what?


She’s been housebound since April,


but now with the drugs she’s taking she manages to get out. Before taking


know all the dances she teaches – it’s just like being offshore again. Occasionally she will try out a dance on me at home, just so she perfects her technique on something that may be a bit complicated.


Recently Maureen’s taught, Love 2 Dance, Not Without Us, Still


Got The Blues, Same Old Something, Til Forever, Rock Your Body, Caballero, A Love Worth Waiting 4.


And all without dancing a step.


Maureen still does the bulk of the organising for our events, we’ve recently returned from our “Dance Frenzy” in Carlisle and she’s busy at the moment organising our next “Boot Camp”.


Every cloud has a silver lining – as


a result of Maureen’s problem, I’ve now retired, a few months earlier than planned and now we’ve got a greatly improved garden, it’s been redesigned to give Maureen easy access to her plants. I’ve fi nally got around to fi nishing off the pond and waterfall that I started years ago.


Now the only problem is a simple


little sentence from my wife….”I was just thinking”. Because when Maureen thinks, it usually means work for retired John.


Rock on Maureen - we love you! I love you.


the constant pain. Her consultant has tried various new drugs that have recently become available, with varying degrees of success, eventually using morphine patches – which made her so ill that we had to call an emergency ambulance to give her something that counteracted the morphine’s effects. The drugs she’s on now seem to be a little more successful.


Now she struggles to get around the house, never mind dance. She’s always been the mainstay of our organisation, constantly searching the net for good dances for our classes. I’ve worked offshore the majority of my working life, I qualifi ed with the BWDA and then with the D&G Organisation to instruct


her most recent drugs even travelling in a car used to cause additional pain, just due to the movement of the car. To our classes delight she’s back teaching, albeit from a wheelchair. And the dances she teaches are able bodied dances too.


Of course things in class have changed somewhat when she teaches, She’s not at the front of the class, but stays at the back. Now our students fi nally listen to the instructions and do the steps, instead of them saying “I can’t see what you’re doing” - Now they listen with their ears, not their eyes. And no more cricked necks looking over their shoulders. Yes she is teaching the dances, and our pupils just listen to Maureen’s amazing instructions and learn well. I still don’t


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52