Patrick Swayze - thanks for the dance

I got a news alert today that Patrick Swayze had died, losing his battle with pancreatic cancer. I thought he'd been somewhat successful at fighting it, even though I'd see pictures of him and could see how much weight he'd lost, so it was disheartening to hear this news.

It's not like I was a rabid Patrick Swayze fan. I liked him in "Ghost", and I thought he was decent in "Point Break", even though I didn't much care for the film in general and I thought Keanu Reeves was horrid in it.

But like a lot of other people, it was "Dirty Dancing" that introduced me to him. I didn't see the film in theatres, but at that point in time, we had cable at home, and that's how I saw the movie. And I loved it. And it was shown over and over again on cable. And I watched it every chance I got.

I loved the behind-the-scenes part of the plot - what do these nice dancers do when they're not actually on the job, when they don't have to cater to old people and be on their best behaviour and do safe little dances? They were *hot*, that's what they did and were. I loved all the dancing, but the chemistry that erupted between Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey was just incredible. And yeah, "nobody puts Baby in the corner" was a stupid line, but the fact that he came back for her was just melt-inducing. Oh, and I mentioned that the dancing was seductive, right?

Patrick Swayze had a song that came out of the film, and I've always loved it. It's so beautiful and romantic and sappy - ok, in this instance, I'm totally a girl.

I've included the video below. I can't imagine what the past 2 years have been like for him and his family. I hope that he is finally at peace now, no pain, no suffering, and I send warm thoughts and best wishes to his wife and family.