Ohhhhh, I can't believe Patrick Swayze Died

Oh sigh, Patrick Swayze has died, claimed by pancreatic cancer at the tender age of 57. I can't say that I am necessarily a fan but I am one of those people who loved the movies Dirty Dancing and Ghost. What is not to love about Ghost other than it is one of those tearjerker romance movies that we all hate to love. But, for me, it is the setting of the movie Dirty Dancing, a predominantly Jewish Catskills mountain vacation resort, that stoked my memories. Of course, the movie was not actually filmed in the Catskills but that is beside the point.

Anyhow, as a member of the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) I attended the annual conference at the Concord Resort Hotel, one of the famous Jewish Catskills resorts whose heyday was in the 50s, 60s and 70s and unrelated cousin of Grossinger's, the famous other one, every year of high school. In fact, I joined the club for the trip, the only requirement was to take at least one business course, I took one year of typing, to cement access to 3 whole school days in the Catskills, where my friends (most of whom were Jewish) and I skipped out of the planned festivities in favor of seeking the brighter side of life at the resort. Essentially, we were up to 'no good' but not the type of 'no good' that would keep us out of Ivy league colleges or anything.

Growing up in Westchester County in the 70s and 80s, the Catskills was the vacation destination of choice for many families and I always loved going up to the mountains. Also, our 6th grade trip was to the Catskills as well. Somehow, the movie Dirty Dancing bought a little of that back to me; the cabins, the giant banquet halls, the cheesy entertainment, I loved it. All of this really had nothing to do with Patrick Swayze per se but these are my takeaways from the movie of which he was a star. Not every death strikes all of us, but this is definitely one of those that makes me go, Ohhhhh, I can't believe Patrick Swayze died.