Prom Night

It's fun to read the blogs of other friends. Many of them have adorable pictures of their children, but my children are at the ages when they don't do very many cute things. Today, however, I thought my son Ben and his girlfriend looked COMPLETELY adorable.

Prom has changed so much since I was in high school. I remember taking a picture or two with my date, but nothing like the group photo events that take place now. The kids meet in a central location for large group picture taking. Usually the scenic entrance to McHose Park is the preferred location, but today's cold arctic winds would have ruined the girls' up-do's and turned their dresses into parachutes. Instead, Ben's group meet in the atrium of the hospital. It was a nice area for pictures, but I wondered if we were causing a bit of a spectacle for people coming and going to visit sick family members.

I remember going out to dinner, usually in my date's car that had been freshly washed and waxed. Now, the kids travel to dinner in huge "party buses". (Think Partridge family meets RAGBRAI) After the picture taking, the teen in our family traveled to O'Hana Steak House in Des Moines for dinner, and the parents went home for hamburgers and apple salad.

A few hours later, everyone congregates again to take pictures of our dressed-up kids. We will stand in line for over a half hour to get into the high school and watch the "Grand March". When I was in high school, the Grand March was exciting, but it resembled an elementary Halloween parade by today's standards. We walked through the main floor hallway of the school, out one door, down the sidewalk, and back in the other door.  Tonight, the couples will parade two by two onto the decorated stage of our high school auditorium, Academy Awards-style. Their names will be announced, and each couple will descend the steps off the stage and up the aisle. 

Maybe it's seeing my son with his shirt tucked in. Possibly,  it's the sight of him in a tie that makes me feel all mushy and proud. Maybe it's the way I saw him hold out his hand as his date navigated the stairs. It could be the way he told Perry and I "thank you" when we helped out with a few last minute details.

Today, I think he's completely adorable.