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85-Year-Old Can Now Cross Tap Dancing Off His Bucket List

This Navy vet proves you're never too old to try something new

By Amy Knapp

Tap dancing had been on Arne Mayala's bucket list for a long time. So when the 85-year-old Navy vet from Forest Lake, Minn., noticed a dance studio on his way to a tax appointment, he knew what he had to do.

His wife, Carol, was concerned for his safety, but Mayala wasn't going to let anything stop him from taking lessons.

"The day he came in for his first lesson, he wasn't feeling well. He had fallen that day," Robin Lind, owner of Dance Tech Studios, told local news station KARE-11. "It just really touched my heart."

Lind posted photos of Mayala with instructor Brad Madison on Facebook. By the next morning, she had more Likes and comments than ever.

Mayala's desire to take on tap dancing inspired Lind to start a dance class for people in the assisted living facility where her mother lives. The first two lessons have gone well, she said.

For the full story, watch the video below.

Amy Knapp was formerly the associate digital editor for Next Avenue. She previously was an editor for InnoVision Health Media's consumer publicationNatural Solutions Magazine.   Read More
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