Part II: Even ugly girls like to dance

Part I of this column appears below.

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Mr. Sean, never stood-up for a date before, Connery had not only been stood up but had been stood up by a fat chick. And if that weren't bad enough, the YMCA sponsored dance was "Bring an Ugly Girl to a Dance." There were prizes given for the ugliest girl and special consideration for the guy who had the ugliest date. He thought he had the prizes in the bag.

Now before you tell me you don't believe the YMCA would ever do such a thing, remember this was 1967 and their poorly conceived idea was born from the genuine concern that even ugly girls deserved to have dates. They didn't try to hurt anyone and actually thought they were doing something nice for... you got it - the unwanted and ugly fat girls.

It wasn't until I heard a comedian talk about his date for the "Bring an Ugly Girl Dance" at a show in 1986 that I realized this bright idea wasn't the brain child of our YMCA in Reno, Nevada. The comedian was doing a show at the Miss Wheelchair America pageant in Cincinnati, Ohio. My mother was there as Miss Wheelchair Nevada and the comedian was the entertainment for the pageant finale.

Now before you get the tissues, let me further share how funny life can be.

In 1986 I was volunteering/working for the American Red Cross in Reno. I was the Work Place Coordinator for the Health and Safety Department. Which converted to English meant that I provided First Aid and CPR training for companies in Northern, Nevada. I had just started teaching all of the staff for the Reno area Job Corp located at the closed Stead Air Force Base about ten miles north of Reno.

It had been almost five years since my first weight loss surgery and I was down to 164 pounds. I was exercising regularly and had to say I looked the best I'd ever been... as a teenager or an adult.

I had about ten staff members in my class and started as always by introducing myself and asked the students to do the same. One student looked very familiar but wasn't sure where or why I felt as though I knew him. You can only imagine how I felt when I realized it was Sean Connery and he didn't recognize me.

I was single and he was recently divorced so I enjoyed the moment and let him think he was seriously impressing his teacher. The class lasted for eight hours and it didn't take him half the day before he was asking me for a date. Oh, how sweet the moment. I let him go on for another couple of hours before I finally said;

"You don't have any idea who I am?" I said.

"No, but I'd like to spend the night finding out," he laughed and flashed that most popular boy of the 1967 senior class smile.

"Well," I continued. "We went to high school together."

"You do look familiar," he said. "But I know I would've remembered someone as cute and sexy as you."

"Hmmm, let's see," I said.

The rest of the class had stopped what they were doing and Sean loved being the center of attention especially since his ego had gained every pound I'd lost during the twenty years since I'd missed our big date.

Finally, after feeling as though I had settled the score for every "ugly" girl who had been invited to that dance, I said.

"Do you remember the name Ginger Sprague?"

His face turned a lighter shade of pale.

"Do you remember inviting her to a "Bring an Ugly Girl to a Dance" at the YMCA?" I added.

His face grew even whiter.

"Well, Sean, I was supposed to be your date but when you sent a cab instead of picking me up, I couldn't go," I added.

"WOW, you look great," he said jumping up to hug me.

Stepping back I answered, "Thanks. That's what the rest of the class said when I went to our reunion last month. In fact the Captain of the Football team told me after our third dance that it was a good thing I didn't look like this in high school because neither one of us would've graduated."

I guess Sean must have thought he'd also been voted most likely to succeed because he was right back to his first request. "I think we should have that date even if it's 20 years later," he replied.

"Oh Sean, I'm sorry," I replied. "As soon as class is over I'm heading to Treasure Island Naval Base. I'm dating the Admiral that's in charge of the base and I'm his date for the formal ball they have during Pacific Fleet Week. There's nothing like a Navy officer all dressed up in his chocker whites," I smiled.

Update: I've been in the program since last September and have completed all the steps required before I can finally meet the surgeon and get his approval for the Bariatric surgery. I've lost more than 50 pounds and have finally slipped back under 300 pounds.