What can I say about my wife, Kami? She has done more for me than anyone could reasonably ask. I hardly know where to begin. I think most callers and at least some dancers already recognize that a callers partner can make or break him/her. If you haven't ever thought about that, take a moment and think about it. I have always said that being a caller is not unlike being a small town minister. And, by extension, a callers partner is a little like being a small town minister's wife/husband. When a club hires me for a dance, they are, in essence, hiring both of us.

        So what does "hiring both of us" mean? Well, I don't know if it is like this in other parts of the country, but here in the Pacific Northwest, when a caller shows up to a dance, his/her partner is usually right beside them. This is so prevalent around here that anytime I show up at a dance without my wife, I have to make an announcement from the stage as to where she is and what she is doing, or else I will be answering the question "Where is Kami" for the entire evening.

        I must also admit that when I have to call a dance without her, I am actually somewhat crippled. She usually helps me set up and tear down my sound equipment, which includes lugging it in and out of the hall. Without her those chores take at least twice as long. Once the dance begins, she is my "sound man", walking around the hall, especially the back, making sure I can be heard clearly. We have hand signals for what adjustments need to be made, and I trust her judgement of the sound implicitly. Without her I have to "wing it", and I am never truly sure if the sound is good or not. She also keeps an eye on the dance floor, letting me know if there are dancers in the back of the hall having trouble that I am not seeing from the stage, and for some reason if a dancer has a complaint or compliment to make, they seek her out rather than me, to register it. She always keeps me informed.

        Kami is also a "people" person, and deals with some situations much better than I would be able. I have never been good at "office politics" and in some ways club politics are not much different. Perhaps because I have never been good at politics, I also have little patience for politics. With Kami's help no one seems to notice this short-coming. She either steps in to deal with it directly, or gives me much-needed advice when I have to deal with it personally.

        There are so many other ways that Kami is really and truly my partner I probably can't think of them all. She helps me pick out suitable music. She is my best (and worst) critic, always letting me know what she thought of a dance, a series of moves I called, or my performance on a singing call. She helps arrange our home life around my calling schedule, sometimes sacrificing things she would rather do in order to attend a dance with me, and sometimes having to take care of "kid duties" for our three children without me, because I am at a dance. She is also quite an able seamstress, and she sews the majority of our square dance attire, and costumes for special events like Halloween.

        What makes all of this even more impressive is the fact that when Kami and I started dating, before we were married, she didn't square dance at all, and I hadn't yet embarked on my calling career. She had no way of knowing what she would be getting into. She has had to "grow up" as a callers partner, as I have "grown up" as a caller, even though she wasn't given much of a choice in the matter. My purpose for writing all of this and dedicating this page to my wife is two-fold. One, I want everyone to know I think my wife, Kami, is the best caller's partner ever, and two, I hope everyone who reads this will think about their own club caller, and how much his/her partner adds to the wonderful activity of square dancing. Next time you see a caller's partner standing on the sidelines, Take time to let them know you appreciate them. Ask them to dance, or at least give them a great big *HUG*.