That Time We Went to Prom

This is going to sound a little bit funny, but we went to prom together a couple weekends ago. 


(And it was amazing)

K's coworker was volunteering at her son's prom and so he said we'd love to go.  That we'd never been to prom together.  And before you gush over that statement, know that he agreed to help because he loves her and wouldn't miss an opportunity to watch teenagers awkwardly dance in tuxes too big and uncomfortable shoes. 

So, we were officially chaperons.  No orientation, no rules to follow, just us and our own judgment. 


We started off the night with a cocktail. 

And were the first to get our picture taken.  Him behind me while I grabbed onto his tie and crossed it over my shoulder.  Classic prom picture.  Its the first picture to come up on the photographers Facebook album.  Those poor children.

Teens slowly trickled in.  No doubt wanting to be fashionably late.  K and I complained about a dance that starts at 9. 

The DJ denied us a look at the "no play" list.  I remembered fondly the days when Kube 93 played actual legit music.  We were shocked at some of the songs played. Too risqué when we were kids. 

It took awhile for the dance floor to fill.  I looked around and watched seventeen year olds play with their phones and talk non-stop to their friends.  They had no idea that they were having their prom in a Footloose type of setting.  The original one.  I'm sure the DJ would banned us from the facility if we had requested that song. 

Finally, it started to loosen up.  Couples danced, groups formed, and we realized that there was no way we would ever be able to stop any dirty dancing.  Or what it even looked like nowadays. 


So we danced.  We danced like no one was watching, because we were surrounded by teenagers only concerned with how they looked.  I wanted to grab and shake them, yelling, "Don't you know how great this is?  Don't you know that your only future dancing chances will be at bad weddings, stuffy clubs, and maybe, just maybe when you get to chaperon a school dance?"

They wouldn't get it though.  Much is wasted on the youth--like ironically posed pictures, twinkle lights in barns, and a date who knows how to slow dance without both hands around your waste. 

And after three Nicki Minaj songs and the Harlem Shake played in its ENTIRETY, I was happy to get in our car, flip off my flats, and head on home.  It was great to be on the outside looking in.  It was fulfilling to look at a glimpse of what we all had ten years ago, except with no sequin dresses and far more up dos, and realize how time changes you.  You go from a teenager at the peak of fitness and youth, embarrassed by your moves and horrified not to have a dance partner, to a women with years of life on her shoulders (and hips), happy to have a few moments to dance by yourself in the bathroom.  Maybe they don't appreciate prom for what it is, but I sure did.


That's probably why he signed me up afterall. 

Stride

Its been really good lately.


Transferring closer to home, opening an office downtown, we now find ourselves with more time and opportunity to explore, relax, just be. 

The weekends are spent next to an open fire, mesmerized by burning wood and skipping flames.  I drank out of my very own wine glasses next to the fire.  We lounge on our old leather chair and hang pictures from our last place.  While we work hard during the day, it doesn't seem like much once home and winding down. 

Our community is starting to envelope us.  No longer feeling like outsiders, we have our own bar, own restaurant, own back roads, and own places to identify ourselves with.  The people wave back and our Saturdays are starting to fill. 

With everything done, sometimes it feels like "what now?"

What next?

This.  This is all there is to do now.  To sit outside in the warm sun, recounting the week, saying hello to the neighbor that walks by, and savoring each sweet minute.