That's what the GCHS Class of 1988 chose as our senior prom theme. I didn't go to prom with Chris that year -- we'd just begun dating and cummerbunds had already been matched and rented. I went with my very best friend (and my Mom's much younger love interest), Tim. We double-dated with Libby and Terry and after-partied in Brown County. It was a fabulous night.
But from 1989 on, I've only had one prom date.
Tonight, we're attending our 20th together.
I just asked my beloved to remind me what his senior prom theme was. His response? "I hope I get lucky."
He's so sentimental that way.
(His theme was, in fact, "Hold on to the Night." You can't argue with Richard Marx and pure, unadulterated, late-80s sap.)
Twenty years later, Chris is still hinting around at post-prom action. "That's what you DO after the prom," he assures me. "That's what EVERYONE does."
The peer pressure never ends, does it?
Not even when you're 40.
My best friend just called me and I answered the phone with my Valley Girl rendition of, "I'm soooo going to get laid tonight." (Sometimes I just can't help myself.) And the caller was, unfortunately, her 10-year-old son asking for a play date with Gus. "I'm really underpaid!" I wanted to shout. "That's what I said, Carson! I'm really UNDERPAID!" Chris was laughing so hard in the background that he damn near fell off his chair.
We've chaperoned a lot of proms in our day. Enough, in fact, that I'm hoping we'll actually be crowned King and Queen tonight. Kind of like bestowing an honorary degree on us. I'm going to wear a tiara -- just in case.
Prom night is one of my very favorite high school events. Watching all those fresh-faced kids wobble around in high heels and tug at their too-tight bow ties? Priceless. Seeing our babysitters in formal dresses when we're used to seeing them in sweatshirts and ponytails? Nothing better.
There's so much promise on Prom Night. Graduation looms, futures are bright, breathalyzers are being passed, sex is on the horizon...
And the memory of the sweaty gaggle of teenagers on the 1989 dance floor grooving to Paula Abdul and Milli Vanilli is a welcome walk down Memory Lane. (Yes, I said "grooving." When we weren't break dancing or head-banging, we were most definitely grooving. And yes, I mentioned Milli Vanilli. We were blissfully unaware of their lip-syncing scandal at that point in our young, innocent lives.)
After 20 years, I wouldn't trade my prom date for the world. He's graduated from mullet to gray, but he can still sweep me off my feet and make my knees go weak.
And the after-prom action? Well, just between you and me, he's probably getting lucky tonight. I have the power ballad 80s mix tape cued up and ready to go.
"Love Bites" can still do it for me.
1 comment:
Wow, reading this post makes me wish I lived in the 80's. It's just that compared to then, there is just so much pressure on prom-goers today to have the 'perfect' prom; the perfect, dress, the perfect date, the perfect dance, the perfect dinner, etc. I believe a lot of these expectations are built up by the media, because of how they portray high school so inaccurately. It shows prom as a 'once-in-a-lifetime' opportunity, and how it's supposed to be remembered as one of the best nights of your life. Well, as a result, it seems like it just puts more pressure on teens today to fuss over every little prom detail that's not perfect. Unfortunately, this prevents them from completely enjoying the prom 'experience' that night, because they have unrealistic expectations, and most likely not everything is going to go perfectly. I know when I attended prom, I did not enjoy it as thoroughly as I should have, because I was in charge of transportation, and everyone kept disagreeing on which limo to take, because they wanted the 'perfect' one, when I was actually fine with any one. The bottom line is, prom isn't something you should go to great lengths to to make 'perfect', because even if it isn't the most memorable night of your life, you will eventually be invited to other parties, which in my opinion will be better, because then you the guests will be people who actually matter to you, not immature strangers.
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