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Dan Rottenberg's avatar

From reader Ruth Galanter:

This is a wonderful story, and good for your father for taking the plunge out of the rat race! It takes courage to break loose, and it takes a variety of skills to make the break into something fun and productive.

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From reader Michael Hill:

Your father showed great courage in his willingness to pursue his dream, and clearly was rewarded with far more than money could ever buy. What a great inspiration!

It particularly resonates with me as someone who was left-brained his entire life, first as a chemical engineering scientist at Unilever, and later as a chemical engineering professor at Columbia. While I enjoyed those careers, my current joy is ballroom dancing, something I took up in my mid-50s. I had never danced in my life until a difficult divorce and the resulting loneliness provided the impetus for me to get out of the house and find something to do. A friend recommended that I take some dance lessons, so I figured, "Why not?" Well, I have been dancing for nearly 20 years now. Though on occasion I have been hired as a professional dancer, dance has primarily been a hobby. Most important, it has led to my meeting my fiancé, also a dancer. So I can well understand why your father found so much satisfaction in his later career.

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