Now I've Had The Time Of My Life....

 And I owe it all to you....What woman hasn't fantasized about being the female that leaps into Patrick Swayze's waiting ripping with muscles arms?

I have been a long standing fan of Patrick Swayze and feeling so sad that one of the few celebrities I truly liked has passed away. My favorite movies of his include Dirty Dancing, Ghost, The Outsiders,Red Dawn and not to be forgotten his movie debut as a cross dresser: Too Wong Foo.

Can any of us forget the squeeze we felt in our heart as Johnny charges over to the table and reaches for her saying, "Nobody puts baby in the corner"?

At our house every eye in the house can't resist stopping whatever they are doing to watch this climactic scene.

About a year after this movie and the music became popular my cousin Jim returned from the Navy to marry his sweetheart Alicia. They shocked us all at the reception when the dj put the famous song on and they danced and sung to each other for their first dance. Of course they didn't do the infamous lift at the end, even though the bride was an itty bitty thing. I suppose she could have jumped on his back and rode him around like a spider moneky on the dance floor but that may not have looked so good in a wedding dress.

Later on during my travels to North Carolina I visited the resort area of Lake Lure, North Carolina to learn about the filming process they used to make the movie in this idyllic mountain paradise.

Turns out the filming there wasn't ideal, it was very rainy and as a result delays occurred. Hollywood used a lot of local talent to help fill in the cast. Many of the dancers we saw humping their way though the movie were local theatre students.

I read recently that the town of Lake Lure was holding an honorary memorial service to celebrate Mr. Swayze's contribution to the area.

My vote for the most truly sensuous scene would have to be the pottery scene in Ghost with Demi Moore. I loved the chemistry between this pair not to mention their interaction with Whoppi Goldberg in this movie.

By the time Swayze made this film he had fully developed that mature manned sized muscled body that had females all over the globe swooning.

One of the sweetest things I observed in recent years was when Swayze surprised guests on Oprah who were practicing to use the famous dance from Dirty Dancing as their first dance in their wedding. Onto the stage walks THE MAN that none of the mere mortal grooms could ever compare to. The audience went wild and Swayze took a few of the future brides through those famous steps right there on Oprah's set. It was very touching.

When Swayze's new series The Beast began filming in Chicago 18 months ago my daughter had just moved from NYC to Chicago so there was a lot of buzz about the show, his cancer, their plans for the series. There were a lot of sightings around Chicago of Swayze and his wife. When it debuted on TV I watched intently but I never did warm up to the show. The characters didn't grow on me and it seemed that there never was an explanation of the back story to make the viewers feel like they knew who to root for. I guess that is all moot now.

From the Mayor's household we all say God Bless You Patrick Swayze and may you rest in peace.