Junior Prom

Proms have sure changed since I was in high school. My junior prom was held in our high school gym. I was in charge of transforming the gym into a New Orleans street scene. After weeks of searching out wrought iron patio furniture and painting murals of New Orleans' French Quarter. I spent hours the day of prom blowing up balloons and suspending them from the ceiling of the gym, then I rushed home in time to quickly shower, blow dry my hair, put it up in hot rollers and then put on the dress I bought off the clearance rack at a bridal shop just in time for my friend, Larry, to pick me up for the evening.

Fast forward thirty-six years to Emily's Junior Prom. Her date had an afternoon soccer game after which he showered and donned his tux. Thirty minutes, max. Emily, on the other hand, had an itinerary planned for her day, which began very early in the morning with a manicure and pedicure, then to the hair salon for an updo, followed by a tanning session at the video place around the corner. After grabbing a quick bite to eat, we picked up the boutoneire at the local florist and were off to Waterloo to have her makeup done, then rushed home so she could get dressed.

This year marked the fourth such "bonding" day I've spent with one of my daughters. Alyssa's had a decidedly "getting by with a little help from my friends" flavor this year. We started our day at the local beauty college for a manicure and pedicure. No "bells or whistles" like whirlpool foot baths with massage chairs, but we had a sweet conversation with Alex, who told us about her dreams and aspirations and about her 26-year-old Polish husband. In the end we decided that nails were not going to be Alex's specialty but, hey, I'm sure it was a better job than I would have done and it was really cheap!

Alyssa is very anti-tanning, so that wasn't in the schedule, but she had forgotten that she needed a clutch purse to go with her dress, so we stopped at the mall and found a cute, inexpensive one at Wet Seal while Alyssa consumed the bowl of chicken noodle soup we grabbed as we passed Grain D'Or, since she hadn't eaten anything yet that day.

We got home just as Nina, Ryan and Malachai arrived, so Nina could do Alyssa's makeup. Nina is an artist who sees applying makeup as another art form. Her array of colors, brushes, powders and more was truly amazing. Alyssa perched on a stool in our dressing area while Nina created "smoky eyes" and I got to play with Malachai and visit with Ryan.

Nina and Ryan left to lead worship and preach at The Gate in SF and Alyssa dashed off to her friend Vicky's to get her hair curled. While she was gone, Randy and I worked on the Italian dinner we would be serving Alyssa and AJ at 6:00.

At 5:25 Alyssa dashed in the door and we zipped her into her dress and were deciding on jewelry just as her friend, Chet, arrived to take photos. AJ arrived soon after with his mom and we all walked over to the park to take photos, where we met Alyssa's friend, Shelby, and her date.

At 6:00 we seated them at our dining room table set with my mom's china, our silver, and my grandma's crystal and served a three course meal, with Randy dressed in his jeans, tweed sport coat and blue velvet wedding bow tie.

At 7:00 their college friend, Alex, arrived to chauffeur them to the dance in our car, and they were off! Whew! I had to smile at the way Alyssa got three of her close guy friends from church involved with her prom: as photographer, escort and chauffeur. All three of them dressed up for the occasion, and had a great time. Now we can breathe easy for another year . . . until it's time for the Senior Ball.