I've never been to prom. When I was prom age I was in my anti-establishment mode and you wouldn't have caught me dead at prom. Prom was for valley girls and cheerleaders and certainly not for me. Think "Breakfast Club" and that might paint a picture for you.
But, now that I am 41, I have shopped for at least four prom dresses. We have have sent our girls off to various incarnations of this special dance every spring for the past three years. They have gone with boyfriends, friends and lovers.
It has been an exciting time of anticipation and preparation. Each time they head out the door I realize that this is a letting go exercise for me. I am watching them grow up and learn how to make choices about all kinds of things both important and mundane. Choices about dresses, about dancing (to freak dance or not to freak dance), about partners, and choices about being safe.
Alyssa is home this morning safe and sound and sore from dancing. She has at least one more prom to go. Which means I do too. I'm actually looking forward to it, but thank god I have a year in between.
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