I loaned out my husband last night and I don�t regret it. It�s not the first time I�ve loaned out my husband and it probably won�t be the last. It was a little bit more of a sacrifice last night than it might have been some other time but it still was worth it. Mr. Philately, you see, has only a very few dances in him per special event and none of them come early in the evening. At a typical wedding, he is good for one slow dance and one or two faster dances.

One of the women we were with at the wedding who works with Mr. Philately is a young widow. While several of the women from the office and several wives rediscovered the middle school fun of dancing in a group of women, she did not find it nearly as much fun. For us, it was a voluntary return to the power of groups of women. But we were accustomed to going through life two-by-two and to taking it for granted. This woman, who has children younger than mine, is accustomed to being by herself. Sure, she has brothers, lots of them, and at least one of them was there but his wife was part of our group of dancers with reluctant husbands. She was willing to be part of the group of women but she wanted something more.

So I suggested Mr. Philately ask her to dance. It was not hard to persuade him. He was coming to the same conclusion I had. And he went off to dance without me and I was glad. I looked at them. Mr. Philately had his usual, �Please don�t look at me because I�m dancing� expression. The woman was having a very good time. Mr. Philately had as good a time as he ever has dancing.

Then came the slow dance and it was my turn�and it was all the better for the wait.

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