The Boy Goes to the Prom

Mark went to the South Pasadena High School Junior Prom tonight. He took Jessica, a beautiful girl, and a good friend. She is dating a friend of Mark's, who is now in college in the Bay Area, so this date has little of the confusing romantic entanglements usually attached to such occasions.

Mark and Jessica and 22 other friends went in this, (picture below), a stretch Hummer. It looked a bit crowded inside, but lots of energy from these adolescents trying to be adults for an evening.

They grow up fast, don't they? Seems like only yesterday that I was calling my dad at 5:15 a.m. Pacific time to tell him that he had a grandson. Then, only a moment later, I was walking him through the back gate of our rental house to Calvary Preschool. He was a big kid when he was promoted to middle school from Arroyo Vista Elementary, and a bigger kid when he was promoted to high school.Of course, many of the parents were there to see their "children" safely off to the prom. And there were the obligatory cameras to capture the moment. Not a single film camera among them. Someone asked for a "Kodak Moment", and the kids just stared at the strange phrase. The parents did well, though, no tears were shed, at least publicly. Many commented about how handsome or beautiful their young sons and daughters had become, seemingly overnight. So that's how it's gonna be, huh?

Hope they have fun, and stay safe, and remember the evening their whole lives.