Could I Have This Dance

It was the Saturday before Christmas in 1963, Eva was working for Oshman’s Sporting Goods on Main Street at that time. We had been dating since September but were not in an exclusive relationship at that point. Eva had asked me to go with her as her date to the company Christmas Party. It was going to be a formal party at a country club with a band with dancing and dinner. I accepted because I loved to dance and liked formal occasions.

Eva and I learned to dance together in the sixth grade at Barrick Elementary; however, we had not danced together in nine years when we were about eleven years old. I had been to many dances during those years and several of them were formal dances including Stardust Balls and Senior Proms. I learned to be more comfortable with girls and to be able to have one-on-one conversations with a girl while dancing. As the days leading up to the Christmas Party passed by, I remember looking forward to the party, but mostly to just having fun with an old friend.

I had bought Eva an orchid corsage and had rented a tuxedo for the party. When I got to her apartment, she had on a formal gown and her hair was done in a way that I had never seen her before. She was beautiful. I had looked up the address of the country club on the city map, but many new streets had been built in that area of the city that were not included in the map and there was no GPS or cell phones back then. I knew Houston pretty much and was able to find the club without many problems. There we were two kids from the Northside sitting in the parking lot of a nice country club. We looked at each other and I asked her if she was ready to go in. I remember her holding my arm as we walked into the room and how I must have been smiling.

A couple of her co-workers met us as we walked in and took us to the table where they were sitting. I think we both were more than a little nervous at the beginning of the evening and then became more at ease as the night wore on. We had many of the management staff talk to us and they were a lot more friendly than either of us expected.

After the wonderful meal was served, the band began playing dance music. I wish I could remember what song the band was playing when Eva and I had our first dance, I only know it was a slow dance song. I was surprised at how well we danced together and how happy she seemed to be. We danced so much that night that I could tell that my legs were getting tired, but I did not care. During the last song that the band was playing, we were dancing, and I began thinking about Eva. Those thoughts were like the words of the song “Could I Have This Dance?”

I’ll always remember, the song they were playing
The first time we danced, and I knew
As we swayed to the music, and held to each other
I fell in love with you

Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Could you be my partner every night?
When we’re together, it feels so right
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?

I’ll always remember, that magic moment
When I held you close to me
As we moved together, I knew forever
You’re all I’ll ever need

Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?
Could you be my partner every night?
When we’re together, it feels so right
Could I have this dance for the rest of my life?

By the end of the year, I had fewer dates with other girls. On Valentine’s Day 1964, I asked Eva if she would marry me. We were married thirty-five days later, March 21, 1964. We had been married for fifty-eight years and thirty-two days when Eva went to be with Jesus.

This love story did not end, I will always have beautiful memories of those years. I need to share them with my family, but the love we shared, and time have helped me to realize that it is possible to have room in my heart for others. When God chooses to take only one spouse and not the other at the same time, He is saying there is more for you to live for and not just grief for the one you have lost.

I look forward to what God has in store for the “rest of my life”.

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