It all started with a video...

It was 1997 in Leavenworth, Washington when a tall, preppy missionary named Elder Foster brought something to show my family and I after dinner one evening. 

"My brother doesn't write letters, he makes videos for me. I think you'll like this one," he explained before popping it in. 

There were several short films, then a series of family videos that had been edited together- their grandpa's birthday, a game they played when they were young called 'Freddie the Vietnam Vet', and a ska party they held in "The Cottage". 

I was mesmerized. We all were. 

"He has talent." My mother remarked, and asked to make a copy. 

A copy which I used in the following year to teach myself to swing dance. A copy which I studied: concrete evidence that there were guys like that. Families like that. Lives like that. The kind I wanted to be a part of. 

A copy that led me to attend a swing dance in Utah over a year later. 

A swing dance where a young man took me by the hand, led me out to the dance floor, and said, "Hi, I'm J." {The very same J who made the video!}

A dance that changed my life forever.

{Edit: the video is unable to play through google reader. Please click on the links to view.}