Anna has the privilege of a Prom every year! Yes, this is the truth.
It happened one year that the school decided to give the kids the Prom experience during the school day and it was a hit. And it gets better just like an infomercial. . . there is a theme . . . but wait there’s more. They give out prizes for the event. They serve food, we get cake!
We have had a theme of The Wizard of Oz, Sock Hop, and this year was a Western Cowboy theme. I cherish these themes and these dances. The school really puts their heart into this event. Anna will have three more of these until she is done with school at age 26. I hold onto all of these events more closely as she gets older each year.
We get to see her good friend, who is a boy, Harrison. They like to be by each other at the prom. In fact, I was just asked in a biopsychosocial if he was her significant other! I said, “No we aren’t going to say that, but they do fun things together.” So you will see Anna and Harrison and his parents and us enjoying this lovely event in the pictures below. Anna loves the loud music, the chaos, the attention and I can tell she thinks it is fun by her smiles and squeals.
I took the day off work which was a first, but I think will continue, it’s from 11-1 so it makes sense to take the day off. It’s been a whirlwind of getting things done while my shoulder is still as stiff as a rock. I tried to tell myself that maybe I hadn’t planned well when I could not find Paul’s expensive cowboy hat the morning of the prom. The truth is that if you live this Warrior life, (shoulder injury or not) you are constantly busy. Constantly. C-O-N-S-T-A-N-T-L-Y
I remember when Anna used to go to her dads for the weekend. I had pockets of time where I would think, she needs changing, she needs moving, she needs another show on tv, another toy . . . then I would remember she was not here. I say this because this is what years of caretaking does, it takes your brain and hijacks it. Even when they are gone you are thinking of the next thing, so back in those days I knew that the busyness was constant and I really felt a sense of freedom when she was away.
When you are planning to attend an event it’s hard to get all things in order. I ordered one shirt for Anna and it was too small, returned to Amazon. But here we were the morning of Prom and no cowboy hat for Paul that I could locate, which is in this darn house somewhere. Paul was a trooper and he went to two stores. No cowboy hat. I made him take out all my boxes in the big closet. No hat. At 30 minutes until departure time, I ingested the truth. He would have no hat. Anna and I were twinning in our matching leggings and “mom-made” Dolly Parton jean jackets.
But this is what we do. We make a decision to let go. I’ve let go of many things because I’m so involved in our Warrior life. So involved with Anna. Do I want to ruin my day and my experience dwelling on what we don’t have? Isn’t that what we have learned to become the best at? Loving what is our reality? I spun this around and decided that we would put the hat behind us and have fun.
The Prom had all kinds of great outfits, from T-shirts that were western to all out ensembles of beautifully made costumes that were perfect. The winners of the prizes were deserving and Harrison won a prize which was very fun (2nd place for best dressed. I loved the pictures despite the lack of a hat on Paul. It can be a fun memory of what went wrong!
So in the end I say “Off with your hats to us.” Basically because we’re too busy to keep up with it all and that’s okay.
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What I’m reading now: Presentation Ready by Terri Sjodin
What I’m smelling now: https://warriormom.scentsy.us
What I’m having fun with now: sewing and decluttering at the same time !
Had a very fun time with Anna and Jackie!