Prom

My youngest son's girlfriend is a year older than he.  Marley is a lovely girl who runs cross country and track and is a little bit shy.  In other words, she's a lot like Joe.  A few months ago, Joe asked her if she wanted to go to prom.  Because she's a junior, they could both attend prom.  Marley said that she had no desire to go to prom.  Marley is a little indecisive, so Joe asked her again 6 weeks ago and a month ago.  She declined.  Three weeks ago, Joe asked her again and said that this was the last time he was going to ask her.  She declined.

Eight days before prom, Joe received a phone call from Marley.  She had changed her mind and wanted to go to prom.  The last day to purchase tickets was the following day.  Joe entered the family room with the phone in his hand and told me that Marley wanted to attend prom.  I was floored. 

We're in our final push to finish the project house and move.  We need to come up with over $600 for cheer leading by the end of the month.  We only have one car.  My mind was spinning as I thought and stated all the expenses:  tux rental, flowers, tickets, dinner, transportation.  I looked at my son and said in an exasperated tone, "I hate Marley.  How could she do this to me?"

Joe looked at me with terror in his eyes and made frantic motions with his hands.  Marley was still on the phone!


As soon as I realized that she quite possibly overheard my remarks, I asked Joe to tell Marley that I don't hate her, but she has thrown me for a loop.  Marley mentioned that she KNEW that she had changed her mind very late.  Her parents had told her that Joe had every right to NOT take her to the prom.  Before she called, her parents had said that they would pay for the tickets (which included dinner) and would provide transportation to and from the prom.

Marley laughed at my comment and wasn't upset at all.  She told Joe that he should give both his parents a hug when he got off the phone.  She also said that if he had a suit, he could wear that instead of renting a tux.  Unfortunately, Joe doesn't currently own a suit.

We priced tux rental and decided that it would make more sense to purchase Joe a suit.  Mike headed off to Kohl's the following day and didn't find any suits in Joe's size that weren't more that $300, which we felt was too much to spend since he's still growing.  Mike's next stop was at J. C, Penney, where the clearance rack contained a tux in Joe's size for $5.00.  It was missing one button.  We purchased buttons for $1.75.  My 16-year old son owns his very first tux!  What a great deal!

Marley's mom ordered two dresses for her to try last Saturday.  By Thursday, they still hadn't arrived.  When I asked Joe about her dress, he said that he wasn't going to worry about it.  She would pull together something before Saturday.


The prom was Saturday and the happy couple looked so sweet.  Marley's dress arrived on Friday.  The weather was quite nippy, but they had a good time.