On 9/15/2018, I heard that he passed away.
The last time I saw him in person was the night of his retirement party.
[my blog entry about the party]
http://beginningargentinetango.blogspot.com/2015/11/dancelife-paul-ramirez-retirement-party.html
In the night, he stayed late until the party closed. With some help he got in a van, and left the swing dance club for good.
In 2000's and early 2010's, I spent a lot of time dancing. The OKC swing dance club offered long hours for social dance opportunities.
The long hours was possible because Paul was there for a long time, keeping the door open until or past midnight. To him, the club was not a job site, but where he lived. Even after he busted his knees and hip, and had hard time dancing, he sat on his seat in the far-end table, and talked with people while he watched dancers.
When I go to the club lately, and see the club closes before 11pm, I see the difference from then and now.
There were many ways he saw things differently from I did. Our personalities were quite different. I even moved his facebook page status to acquaintance, thinking his facebook account was hacked by right wing bot or something.
But I remember him positively.
What I like about him most is his love and passion for dancing. His love was what made him stayed in the club and remained there until the latest hours, day after day. He did it for years. Actions speak louder. His love was borderline crazy, or madness of sort.
Yet, long time dancers know the madness. We share the madness. That makes us friends in a strange way.
Rest in peace, Paul.
[his retirement party]
