by Christian Schreiber, staff blogger
Edna never really wanted to be a dancer — she was very shy as a child and had no aspirations for fame and fortune. But her parents enrolled her in dance classes when she was three, and she danced until she was 22 and got married. Three of those years she danced professionally.
I met Edna just last week. She is 86 now and lives in a Providence skilled nursing community in Palos Heights, Illinois. One of the staff there had told me that Edna used to dance, so I went to visit her and find out more about the woman she was before Providence.
She was pleasant and gracious, although I could still sense the shy child she told me she had been. It's clear that Edna doesn't prefer to talk about herself. She answered my questions kindly but seemed a little apprehensive about being "in the spotlight."
And that's exactly why she didn't make a career of dancing. Yes, she was good enough — she taught a young Danny Thomas the time-step (a tap dancing move)! "He was a quick learner," says Edna. "He was very good." Edna remembers too that Danny had just had a baby girl, and "he was always talking about his daughter. We heard about little Marlo all the time. He was just crazy about her!"
But Edna chose to give up dancing because she was too timid for "all that glitter." She was offered the chance to be Judy Garland's double — in fact, during her performances that final year, when she was introduced, the emcee would announce her as "soon-to-be Judy Garland's dancing double." But Edna didn't take the job. She loved dancing, but she couldn't imagine being famous. So she gave it up.
She married a man who "didn't dance at all," and they had nine children. Those children have taken good care of Edna ever since she was widowed. In fact, one of her daughters was there the day I was speaking with Edna. She's obviously proud of her mom, and she showed me some old photographs and brittle newspaper clippings.
If Edna knew I were blogging about her, she probably would be embarrassed. But I want to share her story because I think it's a beautiful example of the richness of the lives we are part of through Providence. Some of these riches are obvious. Others, like Edna, are unrealized gems. It takes a little time and the right questions to reveal all their facets. But in the right setting, they can really shine.
