Keeping My Heart Young

From the 1st time I heard Baby clumsily tell Johnny "I carried a watermelon" I was hooked on Dirty Dancing. I have loved this gem of a show for many years and will no doubt be having Dirty Dancing parties at the ol' folks home. Scandalous! My cousin Corena and I watched it multiple times a day the summer we were 13. This poster to the right adorned my door and the music sang me to sleep at night. I was obsessed. My aunt had one rule about watching it over and over and over. She said as long as our hands were busy we could watch away. I got a lot of cross stitching projects done that summer and all of the dialogue and dance steps memorized. I just watched it again for, I'm guessing, the millionth time yesterday. It's funny how 20 years later all of the same crushes and emotions return every time I watch it. As a youngin' I fantasized about going away for the summer and being swept off my feet by a Johnny type personality. He had to be able to dance, but would also have the ability to smash out the back window of a car if the situation deemed it necessary. My Johnny Castle crush still holds true today and I would still die for Baby's hair...

Why I love Dirty Dancing:
*"Nobody puts Baby in a corner."
*Black pants + Black t-shirt=Dreamy
*Baby and Johnny balancing on the log and in the water to learn the lift.
*Johnny and Baby's playful lip sync to 'Love is Strange'.
*Johnny's dance space.
*Johnny and Baby dancing for the 1st time. L-O-V-E Baby's awkward clap at the end of the dance.
*Johnny sneaking a peek as Baby changes her clothes in the back of his car after their dance at the Shelldrake.
*Baby's retro clothing.
*Last dance scene, the lift, the kiss, the dance kids and especially the moment Johnny lip syncs to Baby the phrase "I owe it all to you."
*Bedroom eyes...
*Baby's thumb point dance when she messes up the lift during their dance at the Shelldrake.
*Baby's voice cracking as she tells Johnny "I'm scared of everything. I'm scared of what I saw, I'm scared of what I did, of who I am, and most of all I'm scared of walking out of this room and never feeling the rest of my whole life the way I feel when I'm with you."

I truly could go on and on, but I will spare you, the reading masses. Anyone up for a Dirty Dancing party? I'll bring the movie.