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PALMYRA, MO. -- I had the opportunity over the weekend to take part in my first "flash mob" experience. Now, by definition, a flash mob is a pretty random affair where the participants are alerted by social media to perform a pre-arranged act in a public place. My experience was a bit different.  My fellow flash mobbers were my seven brothers and sisters plus one adventurous in-law. Together we put on a public display of embarrassment at my father's wedding reception.

My sister Nancy is the fun one of the family. She plans little games and skits for our clan at holidays. We go along because we love her. This time, when she proposed the idea of a flash mob dance, we inwardly groaned but again, we indulged her--all of us except the oldest brother Jim. He's the sensible one of the family.

Nancy pulled out all the stops for our flash dance. She called in a choreographer who taught us the moves for an exhausting two hours in Dad's basement on the eve of the wedding. She had to resort to a professional because she knew we would be less unruly that way. Our choreographer Jenny, (a high school friend of Nancy's) had the patience of a saint. Dancing is not a skill the Quinn clan possesses. She called out moves as we stumbled around and bumped into each other. Jenny had to dumb-down the dance because we were so perplexed by the simplest of steps. Most of us tossed and turned during the night while we replayed the dance moves in our dreams--jazz square, pivot, turn, superstar, shimmy--and the beat goes on.

Our moment in the spotlight arrived immediately after Dad and his new bride Deana performed the opening dance. We just wanted to get it over with. When the DJ spun the first strains of "We Are Family" by the Pointer Sisters, we took our positions. The rest of the folks on the dance floor floated away. I think they were afraid of getting trampled or perhaps poked in the eye. The invited guests stared with their forks full of cake in mid-air. Some were dumbfounded, others mildly amused. Dad and Deana looked faintly embarrassed. Our new family members were wondering what kind of people their mother married into.

When the last notes were sounded, my siblings and I high-fived each other and gave ourselves the loudest cheers in the crowd. It wasn't because we performed so well, but we were relieved to have pulled it off, however poorly.

Our saving grace was that the hall was too poorly lit for anyone to get video suitable for youtube. Candlelight is your friend when you're making a fool of yourself. (A family member contacted us after uploading the video to YouTube ... click here to watch. It is a little dark, but you get the overall idea!)

Now if you want to see some pretty spectacular flash mob scenes, do a search on youtube. You'll be amazed. Although we were less than amazing, we sure had a great time. Memories are made when you put on your boogie shoes and make a spectacle of yourself!

Take care ~Sarah D.