Miss Peggy

[dancerjodi]

I went to the wake last night with my Mom and lasted an hour there. We walked over from the family home (I never thought I'd be excited about them living so close to Brasco's) and avoided the crazy parking situation. Showing up at 7:00 (when the wake started) there was already a line of people there. We lasted an hour until my Mom was giving me *that* look to leave. I should have just told her to walk home alone, I would have liked to have stayed.

Originally it was going to be a closed casket but I guess they decided otherwise. God, did she look beautiful! My Dad (who went in the afternoon) said that it looked like she was all dressed to go to lunch and then just decided to take a nap. She was in a fluffy pink sweater - something she'd call "basic", like the beaded sweaters and sequined pant suits that she used to wear up to the studio. She had her nails painted a bright pink color with matching lipstick and her rosaries were in her hand. Her coffin ws white, and gold, and had pink roses etched imprinted into the woodwork on the corners.

Man, I have never seen so many pink flowers in one place! Peggy's favorite colors were pink, black and white and thus there was a lot of those there. Most prominent was a massive bulk of roses (like, 5 or 6 dozen) on the top of the casket with a simple ribbon marked "wife". There was also a smaller, heart-shaped arrangement next to those that I can only guess were from her kids or grandkids.

Nearby they placed a massive poster of her that had been blown up from a photo from one of her shows. I think from the costumes in the background it was taken in 1987 or so - I wore a gold and white costume that year and it was the first year I rose to the level of "Peggy McGlone Dancer" i.e. it was the year that our group did The Happy Tap (to be discussed later). Miss Peg was in a classy white tuxedo with tails and had a white top hat tilted over the right eye (of course). The top hat sat on a pedastal behind the poster so it was positioned just above it. A few feet to the right from there was another little table where her tap shoes and a tambourine sat. God, it was beautiful. Scattered around the funeral home rooms were awards that she had been given by different organizations over the years, and in a room near the front door there were two massive poster boards that showed pictures of her throughout the years - with her husband when they were young, at the studio with students, and with her family.

Its really weird; I was OK until I got in the room with the coffin (as expected), and I ws even OK when I saw all of her kids and talked with the ones I was close to. Her son Jimmy was first in line; he's the one that gave me that Monte Carlo when I was 16 (I *was* going to buy it from him, but after he got in an accident and totalled it he just gave it to me). He used to work for my Dad and his wife lived with us for a while in our attic room (before they were married). I didn't have much of a relationship with the other kids so I said hi and gave hugs.

Jack, Peggy's husband - he is such an amazingly strong man. I can't imagine what it must be like to be married to someone for 56 years (having met them in high school) and to suddenly have them gone. I talked with Jack for a while and he told me how they had played "The Wind Beneath My Wings" earlier - they were playing a recording of a bunch of music that Miss Peggy loved. When I was 14 we did a lyrical dance to that song and she loved it. That year there had been a lot of drama at the studio, and a lot of long-time students left to go to a competing studio (and proceeded to bad-mouth Miss Peggy). I decided to write her a poem based on that song given all the crap that was going on. That summer after the show, our group performed for the Massachusetts Ballroom Dance Association (MABDA) at one of their monthly events in Belmont. I read my poem to Miss Peg in front of everyone over the microphone, and presented a framed copy to her. It was of course, printed on pink paper. Jack brought that up again, as we sat there at her wake. He noted that she always was very touched by that poem and with all of the stuff she had in her house - all the gifts she had received, all the clothes she had, all the boxes of costuming supplies that ran rampant through the place - she had that poem out where she could see it and would read it from time to time and get all weepy. I nearly lost it.

Its weird, it was like a high school reunion or something catching up with people that I used to spend so much time around that I hadn't seen for years. We shared news on marriage, divorce, moving, children and work. It was like time had never even passed. Many people still think of me as the little kid and recognized my Mom only to have their mouth drop when they saw me "all grown up". I'm not sure what it was in particular - but I was OK after I left the coffin and made my way down the family line. Until I saw someone I used to dance with in my particular class. We just saw each other, got all teary eyed, ran up to each other and hugged. I think I have a special bond with those women like Miss Peggy in that we sweat together, were yelled at together, worked long, countless hours together, in some cases were dance partners together - and in the end shared the amazing experience when the curtain dropped after putting on a wonderful show that's met with booming applause. But yeah, every single time I'd run into someone from my old class (even some of the ones that left for other studios and caused a lot of drama) - it was like we were all 12 again.

I'm happy to say that 2 women that were in my first dance class were there. I was 2.5 years old and they were similar ages. One I've seen at Waltham shows (she's married to their drummer) and the other I have hung out with off and on in my life. She's actually very pregnant and due in June. I am SO excited about this - she's wanted to be a Mom for as long as I can remember. Her and her husband ended up buying a place in Waltham. I told her that I'm trying to get back. Its times like these that I see how the community supports, sustains and grows itself. It felt very special to be surrounded by Walthamites past and present.

So here I am at home before the funeral. I'm driving to my parent's house and we're driving over to the church together with my Nana (skipping the early morning stuff at the funeral home - I think that should really be reserved for immediate family personally). I was going to go into work for the second 1/2 of the day but I think I'm going to call and tell them to forget it - I'd only be working a couple of hours and I'm not sure I'll have it in me. I finished my paper this morning and have to grab it from the printer upstairs.

One things for sure, last night served to remind me what kind of a dancer I really am. Though I love my bellydance group and have a lot of fun at lessons, that's not really me and so, I'm not going to sign up for the next class session. I chatted with a couple of women that are taking lessons at another studio in Waltham (incidentally, the founders both took from Miss Peggy when they were kids and one of them was at the wake last night). I may give them a try in the fall. Its not the same by a long shot - I'm not sure I'll never find any teacher with the experience, grace and heart as Miss Peggy. But that doesn't mean that I can't try to find one, and that I can't keep her memory alive in the dance. We can't let the tap dance, the hat tilted over the right eye, the vaudville performer die out.

*****

The happy tap is a classic Peggy McGlone Dance Studio routine. She taught it for years and it was kind of a "coming of age" dance that was done with the whole adult and teen ensamble. Miss Peg would dance in front for part of it and sometimes bring her daughters up with her. There were parts where she'd dance alone and then the whole group would mimic what she did. The end of the routine has a lot of trenches - if you don't know what those are well, they are kind of hard to describe in LJ. After the dance our taps would be hot from the friction on the floor . . . it got really fast at the end. Man was there a rush after doing happy tap with a large group to a large audience which would meet it with massive applause, sometimes a standing ovation, and Miss Peggy would be holding back tears. Years after leaving the studio past students remember Happy Tap and can break into the dance together in shopping malls, high school hallways or church parking lots.

Anyway, here's to you Miss Peggy! Break a leg :)

"I want to be happy" from No No Nanette

I want to be happy
But I won't be happy
Till I make you happy too.
Life's really worth living
When you are mirth giving
Why can't I give some to you?
When skies are gray
And you say you are blue
I'll send the sun smiling through
I wanna be happy
But I won't be happy
Till I make you happy too.
I want to be happy...worth living
When we are mirth giving
Why can't I give some to you?
When skies...blue
I'll send that sun smilin' through.
I want to be happy...happy too.
I won't be happy
(She won't be happy)
I won't be happy
Till the day you're happy too.

When skies are gray
And you say you are blue
I'll send the sun smiling through

I want to be happy
But I won't be happy
Till I make you happy too.

When skies are gray
And you say you are blue
What're you gonna do?
I'll send the sun smiling through
I want to be happy
But I won't be happy
Till I make you happy too.
I can make you happy too.

Comments

[msdaisy.livejournal.com]

*hug* I'm sorry for your loss.

The 7 year old daughter of one of my co-workers has been dancing with Miss Peggy for a few years. She is apparently devastated, because it's her first experience losing someone she loved. Sad as it is, it makes me sort of happy to know that you and Amanda shared this first dance teacher.