"Hey - help me make the hubby understand something" was the first thing I heard when I picked up the phone.
"Sure thing, Sis - what's up?"
"Ok first you should know that you're on speakerphone," she says.
"Gotcha so no talking about how you're teaching my nieces to slowly drive their daddy insane," I say.
"Ha ha," says the brother-in-law. "It's not that slow and it's a very short drive."
"Tell me about your proms" she asks.
Now - the nice part about family members who talk fairly frequently is that details are rarely necessary. So I don't ask her why she wants to know about the proms that I attended. I figure that'll become clear when she hears what she wants to hear.
"Sure thing. Well both of them were in SF proper - downtown, so like either the Mark Hopkins or the Fairmont Hotel - I forget which year was which place. We rented limos to drive us and it was up to the guys to park their cars at the hotel the day before (or the day of) so that we would have a way to get home the next day, after we'd spent the night ..."
And at this point, I can hear the BIL in the background already laughing in disbelief. "So wait wait wait hold up - these were like rooms on the sly or something then, right?"
"Noooo," we sisters reply in unison. "Heck, I think Mom even paid for mine one year" she adds. "It makes sense when ya' think about it - I mean, they knew we'd be drinking so the last thing they'd want is for us to drive and plus, it gave us a place to be sick the next morning before we'd head to breakfast."
"Oh sure - I'm sure that excuse went over REALLY well with your dad," says my BIL.
I responded "Well, not for your wife's choices of dates no - but I was dating the same guy throughout high school and he was damn near adopted into the family so it wasn't an issue with me."
"And actually, after prom was dwindling down", she chimed in, "we'd move the kegs from room to room as various couples either hooked up or drank themselves to sleep. So anyway, the reason I'm asking is that some prom up here got shut down over the weekend 'cause they were dancing too ... suggestively ... for the teachers attending or something. It was on a boat too, so that had to suck, right? I guess they just turned off the music and sat on the water for like three hours before heading back ashore."
"Oh yeah", I said. "I read about that yesterday I think. Yanno, in 1984 the senior class at my high school sank their prom boat in the bay. It was a Blue and Gold Fleet boat and I dunno what all they did but they sank it. There were lawsuits and everything. In fact, my senior class tried to rent a boat a couple of years later and they STILL wouldn't accept our business."
"So seriously - you two had proms in hotels in the city???" asked the BIL, with TOTAL disbelief.
"Yeah," I snorted. "Geez - can you imagine how lame it woulda been to have held it in the gym? Hell - who woulda gone to THAT? 'Wow - the basketball hoop looks just like the moooooon'." My sister and I were laughing pretty well by this point.
"So did you pull up the video that showed how they were dancing?" I asked. "Oh yeah," they both responded. "Honestly it wasn't as bad as it's being made out to be around here." And then my brother-in-law made a comment that I LOVED hearing. "I laughed when I saw it was a girls Catholic high school. Figures."
And I probably SHOULD have resisted, but I didn't. "Well - your wife went to a Catholic middle school and after they saw what she'd become, my folks made sure to send me to a public one - which may be why she's like she is and why I'm like I am. Speaking of which ... sayyyyy my oldest niece has been accepted into the private Catholic elementary school up there, right?"
"Yes," was the rather stoic reply from my BIL. "But" my sister added "both of your nieces are gonna go from being young girls who loathe boys directly to 27 year old women so we won't need to worry about how they dance."
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Ok now for all ... three .... of you readers out there: Your/your dates dress was the color of? and your prom song was?
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3 comments:
Funny story...
Yesterday afternoon when I was typing my comment to your post, I heard a crash that came from the kitchen. I had just finished preparing dinner (chicken fajhita burritos)---all of the ingredients were on the counter waiting for my son and husband to get home...I ran into the kitchen to find my cocker spaniel and weenie dog eating a butter wrapper that they had somehow gotten off the counter. Then I noticed the real damage...Sam the Spaniel had eaten all the grilled chicken as well. So, I stopped typing my prom comment and proceeded to melt down like never before...
Back to the prom...it was 1982 my senior year of high school. I lived in a small town in Oregon, our prom was held at the Elks Lodge---it was the best place there. I wore a white off the shoulder Gunny Sax number made of some strange gauzy material. I remember going out to dinner and having a virgin daquiri. Our prom theme was Camelot---pretty lame actually. I thought it was over-rated...but then I went with a friend.
Have a great day Jules!!
W
My prom was in 1994, and it was held at the Huntington Town House, which, then, was a very nice catering/wedding reception/fancy party-type hall (it no longer exists in that incarnation). I'm still kind of surprised by that, considering my high school was at the low end of the lower-middle-class scale, whereas many of the wealthier districts DID hold their proms in the gym. But we went all-out. Tickets were $50. The 10-year reunion was held at a similar venue, however, ticket prices had doubled.
My gown was a kelly green shiny satin and lace (now) abomination from Alfred Angelo. Yes, the wedding/bridesmaid gown company. Most of the girls got their gowns at bridal shops. I had dyed-to-match shoes and purse as well. Heck, my date even had a matching cummerbund.
We had a rented limo, which took us into NYC afterward. We all went on a carriage ride through Central Park, and on the way home, we went to the most quintessential of all Long Island eateries, the Greek diner.
Theme song was These Are Days, by 10,000 Maniacs.
Guess that makes me Reader $3. *wink*
Prom was in 1984. Dinner was at the 95th. (Now called the Signature Room - which is on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Center.) Prom was at The Palmer House - very nice ballroom.
My dress was tiered in 6 in horizontal ruffles - dusty rose. My long-term bf was in a black tux with a dusty rose cummerbund (yeah, he loved me.) Matching garter. Um, and a hoop skirt.
Friend had a blue-green dress with matching garter. Her boyfriend had a white tux, top hat, gloves and cane.
After prom we headed towards Warren Dunes in Michigan. We only make it as far as Lansing, IL before stopping to sleep. We did finally make it to the dunes the next day - came back sunburned and happy.
Then finally, 24 hours after prom, the 4 of us headed to the local playground to swing on the swingset while eating ice cream cones. Good times.
Song?
I think it was Renegade by Styx. (Local band *big grin*.)
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