LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE

LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE by Nora and Delia Ephron.  “The Prom Dress.”  Stephanie, reflecting on two different prom experiences.

STEPHANIE.  My junior prom dress was powder blue and white.  It was ribbed, with tiny ribs and a white waistband, and a white band around the bottom kind of like Cinderella, with a big powder blue bow.  The problem was my date.  He rang the bell, and I opened the door, and there he was, in a powder blue tuxedo with a white frilly shirt and a powder blue bow tie.  We matched.  It was totally mortifying.  I didn’t rally like him, but I was sort of the last to be asked to the prom – not the very last but one of the last, so I didn’t really have a choice in the date or what he wore, and I had a really horrible time at the prom, and afterwards we went into a field and tipped cows.  (Beat)  My senior prom was completely different.  My prom dress was black and short, it was in that sort of Madonna 1980s style, her “Like a Virgin” phase, tight on top and then it went out in a black net pouf and black lace gloves.  My date was also short, but dark and handsome, and we ended up drinking champagne and making out in his car, and it was great.  But here’s the thing – I’ve never really known for sure which of those two people I am – the girl who almost doesn’t get asked to prom at all or the girl who gets to go with a really cute guy.  Every time I thought I knew which one I was, I turned out to be the other.  Which is one reason why I think I got married, to, like, end the confusion.