PROM MEMORIES

These dinners we've been having in NY are lot of fun. They also stir up some more memories, as if I needed more, right? I don’t know how we got to the topic, but you all know how it is, one thing leads to another, and then it all comes tumbling out.

My jaded adult self does not know anymore what the idea of “prom” conjured in my teenage self. Maybe it had to do with visions of romance, being asked or asking someone you like to be your date on a special night? Getting to wear a pretty dress and shoes, having your hair and make-up done? Dancing the night away, maybe living happily ever after with your prince for the night? Hmmmm, not quite, in retrospect.

In 2nd year high school, I got asked to LaSalle’s Junior Prom by one of Nana’s friends. (I am going to omit many names here, to protect the innocent and the guilty!) Nana (and as a result, we her friends) hang around with a bunch of La Salle guys who were one year ahead of us. Many of us had “crushes” on them, and vice versa. I think I got asked in January, for the prom in March. Wow, how thrilling, my first prom! Not to speak of what it meant for my ego and reputation at home: my family, especially my sister, always teased me that I was a “manang” and I would be an old maid forever. Getting asked to the prom stopped all that! I just remembered what triggered this memory: Marichu, at dinner, reminded me of this guy, who was so handsome, and took me to his prom in high school. Ah yes, he was guapo, but, by the time the prom came around in March, PROM DATE was now the boyfriend of another girl GIRLFRIEND! But he was nice and did not “disinvite” me, but obviously, prom night was now not going to be romantic prom night! But it was not romance anyway for many of my friends. Just think about this mess: J asked K, but by prom time, J’s girlfriend was T. So R took T, so that she could be at the prom too. Another guy Matt took someone to this prom, but supposedly, by prom time liked someone else. GIRLFRIEND also managed to come to the prom somehow, can’t remember how anymore. So most of us girls got asked to this prom, but good friend Nana who introduced us to most of the guys, and who really really liked R, did not get to the prom at all. Is that ironic or what?

Add to this memory: My mom, of course, was thrilled I was going to my first prom, so she took me to her salon Budjiwara that afternoon for hair and make-up. I went home convinced there was something wrong with my face, but my mom said it was okay. So I went over to Toni’s house, where we would dress up and get picked up together. Soon as I walked in, Toni and her mom gasped and confirmed what I thought: my face was GREEN! Forever thank you to Toni and her mom, for fixing my face and redoing it all over again! And my Malu Veloso dress, pretty as it was, she even designed it in front of me, or so I thought – at the next family gathering, I wore the dress again, and in comes my own cousin, in an identical Malu Veloso dress. She also thought it was designed uniquely for her. Needless to say, it was my last Malu dress ever, and my last make-up session at Budji! Nice footnote: PROM DATE and GIRLFRIEND eventually got married, and as far as I know, still are 20 years later! And Nana and Matt also married each other, and 19 years later, are still together. Bravo to them all! I wonder how many other hook-ups arose from this prom drama at the Mandarin in 1979?

Third Year prom: Some of us sections banded together and organized our own “underground” prom at the Century Plaza Hotel. This time, I wanted to ask N to my prom, but before I got around to do it, he got a girlfriend P who was a friend of mine, so I did not ask him. I ended up going with C, the “crush” of one of my good friends S, with her permission of course. I don’t remember anymore why S did not ask C herself. I don’t remember much about this prom, and again, it was not the romantic Cinderella ball one dreams of as a young girl.

Fourth Year prom: Disaster in the making from the start. I wanted to ask this guy to be my date , BUT, somehow, one of his friends M, started to tell people that I asked HIM to my prom! How that happened, I do not know, and since I was so mabait, and did not want to embarrass anyone, I really did ask M. Forget romantic again, this guy M is really nice, but no sparks, sorry. If you remember, our parents came to this prom too, with strict instructions to my dad NOT to come over to our table at all! But we did get to dance the first dance with our dads, that is so sweet and I love that memory.

I don’t remember who my tablemates were anymore, except one good friend C, who was miserable cause her mom made her come to the prom and forced a date on her. Good old mother arm-twisting tactics. My mom tried that too this year. She said I HAD to take the son of one of her friends, someone that I know they’ve been plotting to set up with me since we were born. You know the drill, I am sure some of you have dictator moms too. But I stood my ground, and she gave up. (Hey mom, aren’t you glad I refused, that boy is now a bum!)

Ah but yes, I got my Cinderella wish, maybe even did better than her, because by midnight, I was home, horrors! My own parents came home much later than me, cause they went out hotel hopping with Tita Sarah and Tito Bert Anido, Tita Guila and Tito Raffy Maramba, and other parents! How shameful is that, I was long in my pajamas by the time they called it a night!

So there you have it, prom memories not quite “Carrie” but not quite Sandy and Danny’s “You’re the One that I Want” song from Grease either. But at least they still make me smile, and make for good and funny story telling at reunions 25 years or so later!