But despite their giddiness at being re-united, they know there is no escaping the present. The ex-cheerleaders have been drawn here by their shared past-a collective nostalgia for their days on the sidelines, their moment in the spotlight.

вЂњItвЂ™s awesome to get re-united with my cheer sisters, as we like to say,вЂќ gushes Jennifer Hathaway, a former Atlanta Falconette whose eyes are dusted with sparkly shadow. There are sparkles on dresses, sparkles on earrings, sparkles on stilettos. (вЂњWhen they walk in, you can just tell,вЂќ says one alumna.) They have gathered for the biennial National Football Cheerleaders Alumni Reunion, and the room is crackling with the bubbly brand of energy that many of the girls call вЂњsparkle,вЂќ which also serves as an implicit dress code. cheerleaders-Washington Redskinettes, Seattle Sea Gals, Chicago Honey Bears, Buffalo Jills, and the queen supremes, the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Now they are buzzing around a banquet hall set up in a club-seating deck on the upper level of Nissan Stadium in Nashville, home of the Tennessee Titans. Early this morning they convened for a variety of fitness classes, including a вЂњtwerkout workout,вЂќ a вЂњhot heels dance class,вЂќ and вЂњcheer Zumba,вЂќ followed by a panel on the вЂњGood, Bad, & UglyвЂќ of cosmetics procedures. Few look it: most are lithe and fit from a lifetime of exercise.

They call each other вЂњgirls,вЂќ even though they are grown women now, some of them grandmothers in their 60s.

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