Annie Kate Limerick: Irish folk dancing

Patrick, Collin, and Agnes cleared the St. Patrick's basement of furniture -- save the old grand piano, not as nice as Annie Kate's but in tune nonetheless -- so the wedding party could have its dance. Annie Kate had worn a long black dress with white lace trim to her nephew's wedding. Her first grandchild's wedding, the second-oldest son of her second-oldest son. Her right high heels complemented her long red hair, which she'd rolled up into an attractive bun on the back of her head. So what if she was 75 years old, who cared what shoes she wore and how she did her hair? It was her own style, no one else's. She might've let her hair go gray and worn grays, lilacs, and beiges like Siobhan, but her daughter-in-law reacted to widowhood very differently from Annie Kate. She still had some life left in her, even if Andrew had died nearly twenty years earlier and she had no intention of getting a man. Now or ever.

That didn't stop her from flirting with the head server, an attractive man with short, dark hair, a square jaw, and black-framed glasses. Annie Kate liked the boys and they loved her. Who wouldn't love an old Irish lady with carrot-top hair, a black lace dress, and red high heels? The dancing started and Annie Kate led the group. They started with an Irish folk dance, the group in a circle kicking up a storm. Agnes danced to her left, Patrick on her right. Sister Lucy was across from her, smiling and laughing -- she needed it. The convent of St. Monica's could be dee-pressing. Even Collin Doherty cracked a smile at the dancing. Too bad his sister -- Siobhan, that was -- couldn't join in the merriment. It wasn't as if she hadn't been a widow long enough. Martin had been dead nearly ten years.

Two hours later, Annie Kate was still going strong. She danced with James, she danced with Patrick, and she and Collin buried their polite feud long enough to share a friendly waltz. And then she retired for the day to her seat and watched the young ones do the Charleston. Now that was one dancing Annie Kate had no interest in doing.