Prom.

My husband is chaperoning our local high school prom right now, while I'm sitting at home in my pajamas, drinking hot tea, and blogging. Nine years ago, we were attending this same high school's prom together--but not "together." It's funny how things can change so very much in such a relatively short period of time, isn't it?
During our senior year of high school, Eric and I spent a lot of time together. I had quite a crush on him, and eventually he developed a mutual one. We dated for a very short period of time, and then he broke things off (about 2 weeks before the prom) because he was afraid that our relationship would ruin our friendship. In his words, "You're such a good friend, and I don't want to lose you. I know that by dating, we will eventually break up--and then things will be too weird to be friends." My response: "How do you know we'll break up? Maybe we'll keep dating, get married, and someday have a couple of kids!" In hindsight, that probably wasn't the wisest thing to say to a 17-year-old boy. We broke up.
But, for some reason unbeknownst to me, Eric still asked me to be his date for prom. I still remember getting up that morning to go to my hair appointment, anxiously applying my make-up at home, getting into the dress (I was convinced that it was the most beautiful dress in the world!), and feeling nervous butterflies in my stomach when I heard the doorbell ring! But, as soon as I opened the door and we got past the awkward hellos, the exchange of flowers, and the multitude of photographs in my front yard, things were normal. We were in the car (it didn't matter to where), and we were together. I remember talking to him, and simply enjoying his company again. We visited Eric's parents at their restaurant to show off our finery (I remember his mom wanted to see my shoes!), and then stopped at his grandparents' house to do the same. (That was the first time that I'd met Eric's grandparents, and I really didn't expect to see them again. Who would have guessed that we'd be taking our little boy over to that same house for them to spoil 9 years later?)

We ate our pre-prom dinner with two other couples at a local church that regularly hosted "teen night" events. We'd agreed to to come to the catered dinner as a favor to a friend who promised us that there would be "lots of people" there. The six of us had plenty to eat that night!
After dinner, we went to the dance. Honestly, I don't remember a whole lot about our senior prom. I remember talking to friends, taking a million pictures, and dancing with Eric. My most vivid memory is of us dancing the very last dance of the night together. He held me in his arms, we swayed back and forth, and we talked about some nonsense. I reallyreallyreally wanted him to kiss me! And, a few times, I thought he came close....but it didn't happen. At the end of the night, I felt a twinge of sadness because I "knew" that had been my last chance.
Eric did reconcile his lack of kissing me when we were in the car after the dance, by telling me that I looked beautiful that night, and he was sorry for not telling me so beforehand!
While my husband attends this prom alone, I am content to be here at home--listening for our sleeping baby, thinking about our own prom so long ago, and waiting for my husband. It is funny how things work out--that break-up meant to "preserve" our friendship? It completely ruined it for almost a year. After that, we decided to go ahead and give dating another try. Five years later, it turned into a marriage. Two years after that, Baby #1 arrived. And, in a few short months, Baby #2 is due to arrive! And, I'm happy to report that our friendship is still very much in tact!