Not many people realize this, but I actually started college as a dance major. Looking back on everything that happened, well... it all seems kind of surreal. Lots of people tried to give me advice, but I was headstrong, and I had made up my mind that I wanted to specialize, not in just one dance, but in two. I decided to not only do the Hoky Poky, but also the Chicken Dance. People, including my parents, tried to talk me out of it. They all thought it would be too difficult, it would take too much time, too much effort. But that never stopped me. I knew I had “what it takes”, and once I put my mind to it, I could do just about anything. Just about...
So, I went away to school. And I worked very hard. I spent lots of nights at the dance studio, and most of my weekends. Dancing, dancing, dancing. I didn’t have many friends. People on my dorm floor laughed and made fun of me - “hey where you going? Dancin’? Haw haw haw!” And I’d answer back “Yeah...” I wasn’t afraid of them! None of them!
And I got good. In fact I got REALLY good. I got lots of encouragement. Soon people were inviting me to perform off campus. I was getting pretty well known around all the local nursing homes and senior centers. It didn’t pay much, but I was getting exposure, getting my name out there. And everyone knows how important that is. Especially when you’re just getting started.
Well you might wonder... you might ask “why BOTH dances? Why not just the Hoky Poky OR the Chicken Dance?” Why did I feel I had to do both dances? Well, looking back... maybe I was a little greedy. I lived not far from the Wisconsin border, and the chicken dance was HUGE there. I probably could have done really well with just the Chicken Dance if I decided to live IN Wisconsin, or at least stay nearby. But I wasn’t sure I wanted to do that. I thought maybe I’d like to travel, or maybe live some place OTHER than Wisconsin or Northern Illinois. You see, I thought I was thinking ahead, I thought I was playing it smart. It all made complete sense to me.
So anyway, as time progressed, almost every Sunday, I was being invited to perform somewhere, and I actually had to turn some people down. I wasn’t sure if I was ready to go out and do the wedding circuit yet. Maybe almost, but not quite, not quite yet.
And then I got this call. I was excited. I got a call from one of the biggest senior centers in the area - in Sycamore! I had been waiting for this. I thought, “THIS is what I’ve been working for. All my long hours and hard work were FINALLY starting to pay off!”
So the night before I went to bed early. I got a good night’s sleep, although will all the excitement, I was a little bit too excited to fall asleep right away. But eventually I drifted off, and I had wonderful dreams about dancing all night long.
The next morning I got up and went down to the cafeteria and had a light breakfast. (I didn’t want anything weighing me down.) And then I went into a common area off the lobby and started running through a few things. Just getting warmed up. Gotta stay limber. When I felt I’d done enough I went back up in the elevator to shower and get ready. I was SO excited!
I got all cleaned up and put on my special outfit (NO, it was NOT a chicken suit.) And as I was heading down the hall, I heard someone say “Kevin.” I knew the voice; it was my R.A. He was a pretty good guy. I turned around, and there he was, with all of the rest of the guys from the floor. “Have a good one.” And they all gave me a big thumbs up. I felt tears welling up in my eyes.
As I drove down the highway, I felt my hands getting all sweaty. Was I ready? Had I forgotten anything? And then finally, I turned into the circular driveway for the Happy Days Retirement Center, and I parked in the nearest visitor parking space. It was kind of brisk out, almost looked like it could snow. My stomach was feeling kind of queazy as I pulled open the door and walked into the lobby. It was really warm inside. Almost too warm, way too warm, and what was that smell?
I walked up to the receptionist’s desk and gave her my name. She just looked back at me with this “why are you bothering me expression” on her face “yeah? so... are you here to...”
I said “I’m here to perform...? Uh-h Ju-dy John....
“Oh” she said as she pushed a button on her intercom “Judy, please come to reception...” She put the phone down and said, “She’ll be right with you.” as she turned her head back to her magazine. I just stood there feeling really way too warm, wondering about that smell... it smelled kind of like vegetable soup and lots of Brussels sprouts...
“Kevin! Hi, I’m Judy... you made it! Great! Come on, we’re all in here...”
I followed her in to a room through some double doors and there were bunches of people gathered around in kind of a semi circle, some were in wheel chairs. Lots of big smiles and people wearing glasses. Many were in pajamas and bathrobes. Some tried to grab me as I walked past... I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to... I wasn’t sure about any... jeez, was it hot in there! Judy guided me toward the center of the room, and when she had me where she thought I was supposed to be, she stopped and whispered in my ear “here we are. “ Then she raised here voice “Uh-h- everyone! This is Kevin. He’s from over at the college, and he’s come to do some - he’s going to perform for you this morning, and then we’ll have lunch. Yes, in just a little while... chicken, I believe... OK, Kevin, whenever you’re ready... Oh!” and she turned and walked over to a little phonograph. “Do you know how to.. oh wait, here we are”. and she put the needle down onto the record. It made this loud scratching sound for a few seconds and then the music started to play.
Now I was OK. All I needed was to hear the music and my body just automatically took over. I didn’t even have to think about it. I put my right foot in. I took my right foot out. I put my left foot in and everything was shaking all about. The audience was going wild. Well, as wild as they could, but they were really enjoying it. I could tell.
Then... what happened next. It’s still all a blurr to me. I put my wholeself in...., but when I tired to put my wholeself out... something terrible happened. It felt like everything was happening in slow motion. I don’t know if it was the floor itself, or if I slipped on something... but the next thing I knew, I was in a pile on the floor and my wholeself was in a lot of pain.
Several of the orderlies came and tried to help me up, but everytime they moved me, something else hurt. I felt all kinds of stabbing, burning pain shooting all through my body. An ambulance came and took me to the emergency room. But when we got there, they asked if I was a student. I told them I was, and they told the ambulance drivers to take me to NIU Health Center. “You guys know better than to bring one of them here!”
So they took me to the Health Center and called my parents. They did some x-rays and gave me some drugs that pretty much knocked me out. I was in a bed in this big room and everything was spinning. I started to come to and when I turned my head, there was my mom... and there was my dad. I was afraid he was really going to be mad, but he held out his hand and grabbed my arm and asked “how ya feelin’?”
“Where am I?” Then a doctor came in.
“I’m afraid we have some bad news. Your son...” He picked up the clipboard and looked at it. “Kevin... will probably never dance again. With a lot of physical therapy and hard work, he’ll walk. But he’ll never do the Hoky Poky again. Possibly the Chicken Dance... someday... but it’s much too soon to tell. We have to get him walking again first, and then? Who knows?” Then he looked into my eyes. “I’m very sorry.” He turned and walked out.
Since it was still only my first semester, and I had good grades in all my other general education classes, I was able to switch my major over to Art and not lose any time. I did finally walk again, but I was never able to dance, at least not the way I had once dreamed of dancing. I went on as an artist, and had a successful career as a graphic designer for many, many years.
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