Jim the Swinger
Guy's Fables for a Modern World
The story begins, Lorelei and I had just bought a house in Nederland. We met Jim Disinger thru NAS. Over time, I get to know him as a Dancer. He and Serene and Lorelei and I would go down to the Avalon Room in Boulder. We stood out as the only mountain couples in a sea of Boulder Slick. We didn’t care because we were there to have fun and dance. After a while “the boy’s” would tire and we would take a break. We would let the girls have fun dancing with some of the Boulder guys. We would comment that we were NOT as good at the them. However, when it came to dancing with our girls. We both loved to dance.
2020 was a rough year. On February 22, 2020 Jim is diagnose with Stage 4 colon cancer. The date sticks out to me because the night before NAS had a Salomon dinner in honor of Serene. Lorelei and I were seat at the same table as Jim and Serene. I asked him why he was not eating and he stated that he had a slight stomach pain and was seeing the doctor in the morning. That was a starting of a long dance with his medical team.
A month later, Covid-19 hits the world and locks down everything. We didn’t get to see Jim and Serene much during this time. However, I have to thank that Slick Boulder Dance group because they started something called a Plague Party. The way it worked is every Saturday at 6:30 p.m. we would all join a Zoom call. At 7:00 pm. They would play music and people would start to dance. There were a number of different styles like Waltz, Foxtrot, and Swing. When you wanted a break you would sit down and watch to other couples dance. Over the course of 52+ plague parties you could start to see the styles of dance that people liked. That little Zoom window made it difficult but you could clearly see Jim dancing with Serene whenever possible. Some weeks were better than others but almost every week Jim tried to Dance with Serene. For me, the one dance that stood watching them was when they would swing dance. It was harmony in motion.
Jim has left us now
For only in physical form.
His spirit swings with angles
Reflect to us life’s dances.
Waltz a bit in time
For time is a cruel partner.
Jim has got to Swing
This is for Jim the Swinger!
