T-R-O-U-B-L-E
in Giggles on December 31, 2021
Well, we made it to New Year’s Eve!
Happy New Year, everyone!
I was driving around yesterday, running a few errands, enjoying some “alone time” and completely jamming out to the radio when a song came on that instantly transported me back in time—about 25 years back in time.
If y’all think I am a force to be reckoned with today—you should have seen me in my younger, wilder (much wilder) and bulletproof days. The song was “T-R-O-U-B-L-E,” the singer was Travis Tritt. From the opening bars of that song, I was no longer driving in my car, heading home from the grocery store. No, in that moment I was in a club, in Austin, Texas, in the middle of a dance floor being tossed and flipped through the air.
I smiled at that thought.
I remembered how much fun I used to be. I remembered how much trouble I used to be and how much trouble I used to get into. I was handful for anyone who dared to dance with me—let alone try to date me.
Fast-forward from that scene at the little bar called Ropers, in Austin, to August 1999 in Houston. I had just met my husband about a week earlier, although at the time, I hadn’t figured out he was my person.
Again, I found myself in the middle of a dance floor. A completely different type of song was just beginning—a slow son, a song that will be forever in my heart. Kenny Chesney’s “You Had Me From Hello.” This song would be the first time Jeff and I were on the dance floor together, and in my mind, this was a make-or-break moment for my new beau.
Jeff had just come from work. He was wearing a suit and dress shoes, not your typical attire for country and western dancing. I had my doubts. In my early 20s, dancing was my social skill and my exercise. If I happened to be in a relationship where my partner was rhythmically impaired, it presented a significant problem. I know, it sounds superficial, but, hey, I was only 22.
From the first steps we took as a couple, I knew I was now the one in trouble. He moved effortlessly. We fit together perfectly. I’m pretty sure we danced on a cloud to that song, and the next one, and the next one, and the one after that. We’ve been dancing together for over 20 years.
It doesn’t matter where.
Sometimes, we still hit the clubs. Sometimes, a song hits just right from Alexa, and we dance through the kitchen, or the living room, or the backyard. Most recently, we were in the middle of the new house we’re building, and when a George Jones song came piping through one of our phones, we stopped everything to christen our new living room and kitchen space with a dance.
Tonight is New Year’s Eve. Scores of people will be out at parties, in clubs, and little dive bars in every corner of the earth. Tonight we say goodbye to what has been another trying year, and at midnight we will ring in 2022 with hope, anticipation, and excitement.
If you’re still looking for your person, keep your eyes open tonight. You never know where your Prince Charming or your Princess will be. Tonight is full of possibilities.
I met my Prince outside of a bar, a place I had SWORN I would never—could never—find a suitable match. I have never been so happy to be so wrong in all of my life.
I’m still a handful. I’m still TROUBLE. I’ll most likely carry all of those charming character traits with me into this new year—but I’ll never quit dancing with my Prince.
I wish you the happiest of New Years. Be safe out there tonight. I’ll see you on the flip side.