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From Tango to Foxtrot: Ballroom Dancing for Jeanine on The Longest Day

From Tango to Foxtrot: Ballroom Dancing for Jeanine on The Longest Day
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June 20, 2017
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Today we have honored the life of my aunt Jeanine Brown.

This incredible woman was responsible for my first-ever public dance moment. It was her wedding reception, there was a Soul Train dance line … and I was paired up with my grandmother. Needless to say, it was quite the night!

Aunt Jeanine was far too young to have been taken from us by Alzheimer’s disease this past January. Not long after her passing, my wife Daisey struck up a conversation with one of our long-time dance students at the Arthur Murray Dance Studios; we learned that she was a board member of the Northern California and Northern Nevada Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. She told us about how the Association is leading the fight to end Alzheimer’s.

As business owners, making a donation here and there of course seems like the right thing to do. But to us – with our close connection to Alzheimer’s disease – that simply didn’t feel like it was enough. We needed to do more. That is how we became participants in The Longest Day, which provides us an opportunity to do what we love – DANCE! – and raise funds and awareness to fight this disease at the same time. It feels like the perfect match.

My wife and I are competitive about the things we’re passionate about, and we’re very passionate about The Longest Day. Being affected by the disease firsthand is why we decided to lead the charge within our dance community, and our community has responded! Today, members of our staff have each donated the proceeds from the dance classes they love to teach, and everyone around us is showing their love. We have honored Jeanine and everyone in the Arthur Murray community touched by this disease – and millions more.

The thought that people around the world are joining together today to make sure that this generation will be the last generation affected by Alzheimer's is astounding. For our part, we have danced all types of ballroom dance to support Jeanine. While it isn't quite the same as that Soul Train line I joined so many years ago, we are all dancing with that same kind of joy in our hearts.

This may be our first year participating in The Longest Day – but it is the first of many more to come!

About the Author:  Chris Lynam, his wife Daisey and family and friends of the Arthur Murray Dance Studio are participating in Alzheimer’s Association The Longest Day® on June 21, 2017, to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer’s care, support and research. Chris and Daisey are captains of Team Arthur Murray in Redwood City, California. To date, the Arthur Murray group has raised over $40,000 for The Longest Day.

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