Shafa, Salsa, Successful, Satisfaction And Sincerity Elita Sohmer Clayman

I have had this new friend for several years now. She is a medical assistant to a well-known orthopedic doctor; I have the privilege of being his patient. His name is Dr. David Buchalter and not only is he handsome like a movie star (though many are not good looking now days), but he is kind, smiles a lot and very knowledgeable. Her name is Shafa Vigo and she is from Iraq. She exudes sweetness, gentleness, compassion and caring. She sits or stands in with his visits to the patients in the office.

She has always been so nice to me and today I found out something really dear about her that I did not know thus far. Some years ago, in Ohio where she was going to college, she took dance lessons, mainly the Salsa which is very popular now and use to be called the Mambo. Just a name change, not a method change.Shafa went to a dance as a college student and Alexander asked her to dance and the rest is dance and life history. They courted, married and he got a professor teaching job at Towson University and they moved to Baltimore and she works with Dr. Buchalter mentioned above. She is always smiling and making the patient feel comfortable. They met through dancing and I met her through being an orthopedic patient of the doctor.

Dr. Alexander Vigo is an assistant professor at the university in the department of Kinesiology. He examines physical activity behaviors and opportunities in a school setting and especially among Hispanic adolescents. His focus is on research on school physical activity and physical education policies.

It sounds very interesting and Shafa and Alexander make a handsome, young couple. Alex is from Puerto Rico and Shafa from Iraq and thus they met in Ohio. What a remarkable encounter from a faraway country to Puerto Rico. It is my joy to have met her and be in her presence. I as an ‘old’ lady and she a young woman of thirty are friends. She is also a Salsa dancer and anyone who dances is my instant friend. I liked her a lot before I knew she danced; she enjoyed dancing and met her husband from this meeting.

Many people meet their spouses dancing. When we first started in 1977, there was an unmarried lady who was a very excellent dancer and she met her husband there one Saturday night when he also asked her to dance. They married and came often to dance on Saturday nights because it was their life changing happening of dancing, marrying and living life to the fullest. She was a CPA and she did accounting work for the owner of the studio and he gave her lessons for the value of her work and no money exchanged hands. It was a form of barter, you give me, and I give you in return. It was an unusual setup, but it worked for both of their financial needs.

Another couple met each other there at the studio too. He was a confirmed bachelor of about fifty and she was a widow of about fifty-five. They met, danced and took lessons together. She had three kids and he instantly became a step dad and his whole life changed. Now he was married, a dad and they were a divine, dancing couple. They were both a bit heavy, it did not deter them winning in competitions. They danced beautifully, loved life and won many awards for their competitions, they competed in. He loved being a step dad and her kids adored him.

I use to say that if our marriage could endure taking ballroom dancing lessons together; we had a good marriage because many times as a couple, you argue about something that was taught to you and sometimes you get so involved in it, you can get angry. We never got angry enough to stop the lessons or be mad with each other. It is a fun hobby, good for the mind, the soul, the heart, the body and even when your feet hurt and you get a bone spur in your bottom foot, it is OK. Today I got the Cortisone shot in the heel for maybe resulting from so much dancing for thirty-five years and also a Cortisone shot in my right knee all in one day. They, the foot, the knee and I will feel fine and then we will go back to our beloved (he will not admit, he likes it) dancing and even with some shots, it is still worth it.

Dancing opened up a whole new world to me thirty-five years ago and my life became so much brighter and illuminated. I have met thousands of dancers over the email, in person, on the phone and through the mail. We who ballroom dance love it, it loves us and that permeates and imbues in me that even at this senior age, I am alive and so are also all the dancers out there throughout the country that are keeping on dancing regardless of their ‘now’ age.

The heel may hurt some tonight when the sprayed pain medicine is over with, but as I put an ice pack on my ankle/heel and knee as directed by the podiatrist and the orthopedic doctor, I will still be ahead of the game.

I have met fine people and Shafa Vigo is a good example of this accomplishment. When you find excellent folks and they enter your life through one way or the other, you are blessed. They can be someone like Shafa who I see maybe every ten weeks when I visit Dr.Buchalter, Dr. Buchalter himself, my dance friends, my Physician Assistant Dennis H. Myers who takes care of me in between Dr.B.’s visits and who sent me to Dr.Buchalter several years ago for the pains in the knees and shoulders.

I made up this saying myself. “When you are the recipient of knowing great people, you are very favored, gifted and fortunate.” Dancing brought me together with some very exceptional, extraordinary and outstanding folks. I have been blessed with taking dancing, marrying a fellow who danced to please me and the happy times that ensued. We danced at our son’s wedding twelve years ago and at our daughter’s wedding almost twenty-five years ago. Our first dance activity in dancing was at our son’s Bar Mitzvah in June of 1978. We made our ‘debut’ there before our family and friends and how delightful that experience was. Everyone commented on our dancing ability and we had been only taking dance lessons for about seven months. How proud we were of our new ‘expertise’ to try to excel in this hobby.

I have many blessings in my life and after husband, children, grandchildren, my dance friends, then comes dancing. Try it, you will like it, love it and live it.