Chapter 1.0 -- Homecoming Dance -- Midland Airfield
Chapter 1.1 -- Homecoming Dance -- Dancing at Church
So I went to the dance. Strangely, what felt odd was not what other returned missionaries talk about, not the being without a companion, not the freedom to dance, but letting someone else be the one providing the sound system, letting someone else work the turntable.
Neil, one of the young men of the ward who was now preparing for his own mission, had taken over the dance music duties while I was gone. That meant I got to focus on dancing.
Very few of the young women in the group I had grown up with were there. Most were off to school. Some were already married. Many of the young men I had hung around with were at school or still on their missions.
My best church friend's little sister was there -- his really cute little sister, now grown up, now a really good-looking woman. Would I be emphasizing too much if I admitted she had a special beauty?
She had a facial scar from a childhood operation. Restorative surgery was not as advanced back then, insurance not as comprehensive, and money tighter in general, so the operation restored her health, but did not clear the nominal blemish.
Her family was supportive. The people at church were also, relatively speaking, supportive. When they moved, I think the members in their new ward were supportive, too. School, not so much. She had had to develop a certain toughness about the scar in most social settings.
But somehow she had learned to let herself shine through. And she really was beautiful, scar included.
"Lizzie Ann! How's things? Lute here too?"
"Great. No, he's still in Guatemala. He'll be another couple of months."
"Oh, that's right. What're you up to? In Lubbock?"
"Nursing school in Roswell. We heard about the dance here, so we came to crash it."
She indicated two young women that were with her, and I introduced myself.
"So you're back from Japan," she prompted.
"Yeah, just came in today. Mom told me about the dance."
"Guess you haven't talked with the stake president yet."
"Nope. But the mission president told me I can dance now I'm home. Wanna dance?"
"Yeah!" She turned to her friends and excused herself, and we went back into the gym. We closed to ballroom position and began two-stepping to a country ballad.
"You'll ask my roommates to dance, too, right?"
"Of course."
While we danced and talked, I considered asking her out. But the thought of driving 200 miles to Roswell to see her got in the way. And something just wasn't clicking for me. Might have been Beryl. Might have been Satomi. Might have been the friendship with Lute. Might have been the fact that I was still trying to figure out what goals to set for a career. Might have been many things.
I have sometimes regretted not asking her out while she was there that night. She'd known me for a long time, and, of all the women I have known, she may have been the most ready to understand me as I was, as I am.
I danced well more than half the dances. Lizzie Ann and her roommates got their share, and I danced with most of the other young women, as well. I had not really interacted much with the group two years younger than me before my mission, so I didn't feel like I knew them that well. But they remembered me and they knew I liked to dance. And they all knew I wasn't into kissing, so no one worried me about that. Well, none of the young women, anyway.
"So, Joe, if your mission president said it's all right to dance, you gonna get a kiss tonight?" Ken was one of the 14 year old group.
"Don't be juvenile," June, his sister, chided him.
"Ken, ya gotta be kidding," I shook my head. "From whom?"
"Anybody! If it's not off limits, ..."
"Definitely not planning on working that fast."
Why it always felt to me like the young women my own age were scared I was going to try to kiss them, I'm not sure. Maybe it was all in my own head. I sure never tried to kiss any of them. Never had kissed anyone besides my mom and my sisters. I would be 26 before my first kiss.
Some people doubt me when I say that. What can I say? It was not my goal to refrain from kissing. It just didn't happen. I never liked to force things. What was not was not.
Many people asked me about my plans, and I talked about taking general education classes at Odessa College, where my dad taught, while looking for a full four-year college to go to. It would save me a lot of money to get two years out of the way at home.
Lizzie Ann asked if I were looking at medicine, but I told her I was looking more at physics and electrical engineering. Before my mission, I had thought working as a TV repair tech would be fine, and give me time to tinker. But during my mission, I had decided I should set my sights higher, in the academic sense.
I still was not really considering Brigham Young University, although, for extending my Japanese language skills, BYU would be the logical choice.
"Well isn't it Mary?"
My first name is Marion. People usually call me Joe, for my middle name. Sister Patton and another of the women at church had teased me when I was younger, calling me Mary or Josephine. It had initially upset me. But Mom said they just wanted to see me react. So I quit reacting, and they quit teasing. Mostly.
"Hi, Sister Patton." It really no longer bothered me.
"So how long have you been back?"
"Just got back."
"I'm surprised that you were able to speak with President Price so quickly."
"My interview with the stake president will be in two weeks." I decided to bait her in return, and ignore the question she was implying.
"But you're here at this dance alone? Of course you haven't been dancing?"
"And waste the opportunity? Of course I've been dancing."
"But what about the rules?"
"Rules?"
"Mission rules."
"I'm just doing what my mission president told me to do in his final interview."
"Oh, really?"
"He said that once my mom picked me up at the airport, the rules that apply are the rules for any good member of the Church."
"Does President Price know about this?"
"He mentioned it to my parents, so I guess so."
"Well, if that were true, what would keep you from just kissing a girl?"
"I never was one to kiss a woman without permission, and I'm not planning on working that fast tonight."
I saw Lizzie Ann come out into the hall. "Hey, Lizzie Ann, you want to dance this song, don't you?"
"Sure!"
And I made my escape.
I really should have asked Lizzie Ann out. Next I heard, she was engaged to a guy from New Mexico.
I stayed after the closing prayer was said and the last song played to help clean up, then went home to bed.
[Backed up at https://joel-rees-economics.blogspot.com/2020/01/bk-33209-homecoming-dance-dancing-at-church.html.]
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