End of an Era

Zumba Retirement

I mentioned in my previous post that one of the Zumba instructors, “S”, in my community of Zumba friends announced that she is retiring from Zumba next week. She was the only reason that I was going to possibly hold on to my Y membership since her class was the only class I went to anymore.

In my last post, Election Day & Covid Thoughts, I wrote about how I had pretty much decided that I was going to switch to a new gym. The ONE thing that was keeping me at the Y was that my Zumba friends all went there. 

Sadness & Relief

It’s a shame. Despite the fact that I was already close to deciding to quit the Y and find a new gym and community of people, it still makes me sad. 

I do feel a bit of relief about S retiring from Zumba. It makes my decision to leave the Y and that community easier for me. Things officially won’t go back to “normal” ever again.

I am sad that I will miss her final class next week. I didn’t realize the last time I did Zumba outdoors at the Y that it would truly be my last time with S.

Social Life

Zumba wasn’t just exercising for me, it was the majority of my social life. It took me about a year of Zumba with this group to actually socialize with them (thanks to social anxiety) and I finally felt like I belonged to a group.

I spent my late 20’s into my mid-thirties with this group of people. Many of us started at Energy Fitness, the gym S owned. When she quit her own business, many of us moved on to the Y and found Zumba and other group classes there. Eventually, S came to be a Zumba instructor at the Y and many of us were able to come back together.

The Final Zumba Class at Energy Fitness

Zumba, and the group of people I met because of it, changed my life. I got to do one of my favorite things (dance) with a group of people that also love dancing. 

I met some of my good friends through Zumba. People I would have never met otherwise.

Jeff and I celebrated New Year’s Eve multiple times with these friends.

We celebrated birthdays together.

I attended a wedding reception for one of their daughters.

We vacationed in Cancun with a group of them back in February (feels like a decade ago).

One of them helped us with the lease for The Game Capital’s new storefront.

We dressed up for Halloween Zumba and Christmas Zumba and so many other things.

Christmas Zumba at Energy Fitness

End of an Era

S retiring from Zumba is the end of an era.

I will do my best to keep my friendships with those that I am closest to. I’m sure I will still cross paths with some of them. And there will be some that I may not ever see again. That’s OK. That’s life.

It’s bittersweet.

Hopefully, some of my friends end up at the gym I am switching to. And, hopefully, I can build up a new community of friends for myself.