Prom!

 

This past weekend, my oldest daughter attended her senior prom. We spent weeks looking for the right dress, shoes, bag. We practiced make-up looks and hair styles. She broke in her shoes by wearing them around the house. She had her ticket, her list of must-haves for the evening, and I had plenty of film for the camera. However, there were a few last minute things we, ummm, forgot. We made a harried phone call to the local florist just days before begging for a wrist corsage and boutonniere. And then another to a local nail salon. All was well. Until the big day...

She was late! (Yes, you were.) She had all day Saturday to primp and fuss. But instead, she just chilled out in her room thinking about the night ahead. Tucked away in her room, I checked in on her twice to see if there was anything she needed. I knew better than to check any more than that as her nerves were a little frayed. I paced and kept myself busy with yard work, but by 5:00 I was beginning to panic because that was the time we scheduled to start doing her hair. I set up the hair station. (The dry run we held earlier in the week proved to us that her hair would take a solid hour to do.) I checked the clock: 5:15. I made sure the curling iron was really ready. By 5:30, she sauntered down the stairs. "Wow, I didn't realize it was so late! Is everything ready?" Sheesh. You would have thought I was going instead of her. Without comment, I started on her hair. By 6:00, one half was done. She started to text her date to coordinate pick-up. She uttered the words "oh man" several times. Her sister got in on the act and started to fill her purse with all of her must-haves. I kept my lips sealed and kept curling. By 6:30 the troops had arrived and I was putting the finishing touches on her hair. She panicked and ran upstairs to dress. I ran up after her to spray her hair and insert some jeweled combs.

 

All was well in the end. She came down the stairs looking like Cinderella and received the appropriate response from her date. The cameras started to click away as I took more than 30 photos of just about anything they did. And that's when we realized the flowers were still in the refrigerator. (You can see the shot above of her orchid and rose wristlet.) So the cameras started their clicking all over again, and before we knew it, they were on their way.

 

No, the yard didn't look as pretty as it should have this time of year (The leaves are just peeking through and the grass is taking its time coming in.), but as the sun was starting its decent, the couple looked just wonderful. It was a beautiful night. "Okay, enough photos. It's time to go."

P.S. I asked her if she would like to read this post before I published it. Her response: "Don't you need to get my permission now that I'm 18?" I decided to exercise my 1st amendment rights.