Prom Night in Our Little Town

It’s been a long school year.

Here in Our Little Town, Local Businessman High School started out with face-to-face classes, eventually switched to fully online, and then went to a cohort system where half the school showed up on one day and half showed up on the next. It got them through the year, but a lot of things sort of went by the wayside in the process – extracurricular activities in particular.

So we were happy when they said that there would indeed be a senior prom this year. It would be held outdoors at the local gardens, during the day, and there would be no dancing allowed due to social distancing, but with vaccines becoming common among the intelligent and medically able it could be done safely.

You take your wins where you can get them.

Lauren and her Squad went as a group. You can do that now. Long gone are the days when you had to go as a couple or stay home. You can still go as a couple if you want to do so, but this is a generation that doesn’t date as much as previous generations did (seriously – there are studies on this and everything) and it’s just much more inclusive to go with your friends anyway.

The weather was not nearly as windy as when she went to the Other High School’s prom in the same place a couple of weeks earlier, but it was a bit rainy. Not that anyone minded, it seemed. Lauren found a lovely green dress and some Doc Martin sandals, Kim got corsages for her and her Bestie, and they all spent a happy morning getting ready for the main event.

I got to be the photographer.

I’m one of the few people left in the world who has an actual camera rather than simply relying on their phone, so the pictures tend to come out pretty well – or at least they do when the camera chooses to focus properly. But if you take enough of them then some of them will come out, and that’s just how digital photography works. I’m glad they ask me to take photos of these events.

We met at someone’s house, and a photo session of epic proportions ensued. It got a bit wet at times because of the rain, but spirits were high and that’s why you have umbrellas and towels.

Afterward we left them to their prom, and by all accounts they had a good time. They stayed for a while, then headed to Madison to walk around State Street for a bit in their finery, gathering compliments along the way, and then they went back to Our Little Town to spend the night together.

We actually left town while the prom was going on – Oliver, Kim and I drove out to Philadelphia to visit my mom, and Lauren joined us a couple of days later. This all happened a while ago now, though I'm just finding the time to write it down now. It’s a strange feeling to have kids old enough that you can say, “Here’s an airline ticket – I’ll pick you up at the terminal when you get in,” but a good one. Lauren kept us informed about their doings and we got to enjoy the prom vicariously, which honestly is what we would have done if we’d stayed home.

I’m going to miss the Squad. They’re good people, and with everyone graduating this year they’re all going to be scattered to the winds in their various colleges. They’ll get back together over holidays of course, but it was nice to have this event to share – a prom in a pandemic, perhaps not the one they thought they’d have when they started high school, but one that will perhaps give them stories to tell for a long time to come.

Happy Prom, Lauren!