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Wife finds creative way to help her husband through depression

Fan Deduo and wife Peng Xiaoying

South China Morning Post | Facebook | Fair Use

Cerith Gardiner - published on 06/27/20

This "rural-style shuffle dance" will definitely make you smile!

A couple in south China have developed their own style of “rural-style shuffle dance” and have demonstrated how marriage truly is a vocation that can bring out the best in us.

In a video shared by the South China Morning Post, the couple are seen dancing in their village: in front of their farm house, in fields — in fact, anywhere there’s space for them to show their moves! Behind their beaming smiles it’s hard to imagine that the husband, Fan Deduo, had been suffering from depression after a bad car accident.

In the video, he explains how his depression meant he needed to feel safe, surrounded by loved ones when he slept. His wife, Peng Xiaoying would also find him wandering outside in the middle of the night. In what must have been an exhausting time in the couple’s lives, Xiaoying found a solution that would benefit her husband and the whole of their family. She asked him to learn the moves to a dance.


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Through their joint love of dance, the hard-working farmers discovered that their special shuffle would lift their spirits. So at different points in the day the couple put down their farming tools and break out in dance — and smiles! Now their two children also join in the activity to make it even more special.

It’s a lovely story of love overcoming life’s difficulties, and wonderful to see and be inspired by a family who knows how to pull off a fun dance move or two!



Read more:
Parents, here are 5 tips to help safeguard your family’s mental health right now

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