Thursday, April 29, 2010

What about prom, Blaine?


Name that movie. This week's Flashback Friday theme is 'your highschool prom' and I'm thinking its going to be all about the pictures. I don't have a lot of memories from the actual event but I do have a lovely picture. Aren't all prom pictures oh so lovely?

I went to a huge highschool. Our senior prom was held at a catering house that people could rent for banquets and weddings and such, and it could accommodate our very big crowd. I spent four years of highschool homeroom sitting beside the boy whose family owned the place because alphabetically that's how we rolled.

I didn't have a boyfriend then so a friend played matchmaker. I haven't seen that friend since highschool but we've recently connected again on facebook. Don't you just love the miracle of the internet? Anyway, she put us together and I went with a very nice boy. We talked on the phone a few times and we went out once before the prom I guess to make sure it wouldn't be extraordinarily awkward but essentially the prom was our big date.

I definitely remember the theme song. Having a theme song was the tradition in our school. Several songs were put on a ballot and sometime early in the year the whole class voted. My brother graduated a few years before me and his theme was Precious and Few. Some songs are just meant to be a highschool prom theme.

Ours was ' The Goodbye Girl'. The movie had come out the year before and I don't remember what the other choices were but this one fit that prom theme genre. One class before ours used Kiss Today Goodbye and Point Me Toward Tomorrow...try putting that on a souvenir glass. Because isn't there always a souvenir glass? When we saw my in laws at Easter they brought a few things from their house to hand over and one of them was hubs mug from his senior prom. Always and Forever in case you're wondering about his theme.

Back to my memory...we didn't get a limo..maybe some people did but I don't think that was as popular then as it is now. I did get my hair done. And there were flowers. And I will preface the posting of the picture by telling you that it was 1978 so be kind.



My daughters laugh at this picture...they say it looks like we're getting married and I guess they do have a point. The off white Gunny Sax dress, the baby roses....it does have a bit of a wedding feel I suppose.

I don't have any specific memories of the actual event. We had dinner, we danced...I think you know how I feel about 70's music. It was a fun night. David Gates was the lead singer for a group called Bread...do I need to tell you this? I feel I need to tell some of you this. Because some of you who read here weren't even a twinkle in your parent's eye when I was at my highschool prom.



'...Goodbye doesn't mean forever...Goodbye doesn't mean we'll never be together again...'

I'm sure that lyric is why we chose the song as our theme. There is something that makes soon to be graduates feel nostalgic and emotional...like they want to hang on to those days for a little bit longer. When you're 17 and you're leaving friends behind to venture out into the world those lyrics are comforting. We had no inkling there was a facebook in our future. In fact we had no inkling there was an internet in our future. All we knew was that these were the people we'd known since childhood and we weren't quite ready to say goodbye.

Visit Mocha with Linda for more prom memories...better yet, share your own. Or post your prom picture if you're reading this on fb....you know you want to.

28 comments:

  1. Joyce, this was a cute post. I tried not to laugh, but I must agree with your children. You and your date DO look like you are about to get married. LOL Old times are so funny--and I should know--I'm older than you. Have a great weekend! Kathy

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  2. I've been trying to remember what our theme was, and I think it was also Always and Forever.

    We didn't have souvenir glasses. Guess y'all were more upscale than we were! LOL

    And could those tux lapels be any wider?! Ah, the 70's. (And I loved David Gates & Bread!)

    Thanks for playing!

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  3. I must be feeling very sentimental because this choked me up. Loved this post, Joyce. Thanks for sharing.

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  4. Love it and I totally thought it looked like a wedding picture! ha! :) Hope swimsuit shopping went well. I didn't call you Big J yesterday simply for moral support. You are welcome.

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  5. Lovely post! Your last paragraph spoke the most to me. That was exactly how I felt. The dress may look like a wedding dress, but it is beautiful. Have a wonderful weekend.

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  6. That's exactly what I thought about you & your date looking like you're getting married. Except he looks like he's about 10 years old! :D
    I didn't even go to mine...went up and tried out for the flag corps that weekend...well worth it!
    David Gates & Bread was just the best, huh? They don't make music like that any more!

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  7. What fun memories. I love your pictures. Isn't it funny how time changes things. Your last paragraph says it well. I remember them telling us by the year 2000 we would be living in spacestations like the Jetsons. What fun memories. Thanks for sharing yours!
    until next time... nel

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  8. This was fun to read. Thanks for sharing it.

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  9. I'm with the crowd on this one; that does look like a wedding picture! I wasn't ready to say goodbye after High School, either...as you said, who knew there'd be an internet???

    Lovely post!!!

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  10. We don´t have proms here where I live, so this was interesting. You had your hair exactly like I had mine in that age and day. The dress does kind of look like a wedding dress, but I think it looks great!
    Thanks for sharing!

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  11. This is great I am loving reading all about the proms, really a good blog too, have started to follow you.
    Hugs Barbara http://bakinnbitsbarbara.blogspot.com/

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  12. *sighhh* Oh, but this post brought back alot of prom memories.
    I love your dress, Joyce, and yes, you all didi kind of look like you were ready to get married but he looks especially young! Wow! I AM getting old! :-)
    Thanks for sharing these wonderful memories with us!!

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  13. I loved those Gunny Sax dresses! -- had a couple of them back in the day, and got married in one. You guys look adorable.

    Catherine

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  14. At first I thought Goodbye Girl was an odd choice, but it does make sense with that sentimental, nostalgic feeling of leaving your friends.

    I LOVED Gunne Sax dresses but never had one. I wish formals like that would come back in style. I hate that the current ones are so bare.

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  15. Love it! I'm trying to remember senior prom but I keep getting it confused with Junior prom. I'll have to ask the Hubby cuz he was my date to both.
    I'm going to rustle up some pics and see if I can get a reaction out of Mr. 18. :)

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  16. One of my prom pictures looks so much like yours...totally covered up. My girls think it is so funny! How the dresses were high necked, long sleeves,etc. My wedding dress was even like that. My husband and I were high school sweethearts, so we went to prom together. Our pictures are a hoot too. Very 70's!! Oh well, we had fun, didn't we? I remember Bread. Love & blessings from NC

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  17. If I had actually gone to our prom, I probably would have picked out a Gunny Sax dress to wear too. But I had no boyfriend in 1978, the year I graduated HS and so another boyfriendless friend and I went to dinner. We tried to be all sassy and rebellious by ordering desert first, then our entrees but the waitress didn't "get it", and brought the food in the right(normal) order. Oh well..
    Got here via LJW

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  18. Oh how funny that your prom dress really did look like you two were heading for a wedding and not a dance.

    I never went to prom sadly and in hindsight, I am still OK with that.

    Love and Hugs ~ Kat

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  19. I wish Mema had kept that dress. You know me and sis would have been all about playing dress up with it.

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  20. I would have just been beginning to crawl when you went to prom. And I am glad you posted the video. I have never hear that song and I liked it!
    It was interesting to think about how you didn't know there would be internet or anything like it to stay connected. I bet that was sad saying goodbye...

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  21. What a fun post! All of our (my junior prom) pre-prom pictures were great...we had a really good time, but then for the one they take at the prom and send to school for you to pick up? My eyes were closed! I was so sad. haha Now I can laugh about it though.
    Congrats on your Comment of the Week over at TLJW. :)

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  22. I was thinking wedding dress or fancy nightgown. Fun post!

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  23. Fun pictures! You are about the same age as my Mom and my sister and I use to play dress up in her prom dresses - we thought they were so retro :) But sadly, a little girl at the playground yesterday asked me what year I was born and when I said 1984 she responded "Wow, you must be REALLY old!" Now I am expecting 112 comments - TLJW said you would, ha :)
    www.dixondialogue.com

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  24. Hi Amber...oh rest assured I will be commenting : )

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  25. Great photo! Weren't the 70's great?

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  26. Great post. I don't even know where my prom picture is (maybe I burned it). I loved our theme...I'm thinking someone recently re-released "Always and Forever"...the school where I work used it as their theme a year or two ago.

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  27. I was just today trying to describe what a Gunny Sax was to my girlie... How I pined for one, and finally got one and the only picture I have of me in it is a head shot... What was my mom thinking? I was so excited to see your post, I immediately called her into the room (much to her excitement... lol) to show her!
    Thanks for the stroll down memory lane. (Yours and mine)

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  28. Ah, Bread. They're still on my iPod.

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