It's Monday afternoon and I just got in from the prom. It can be said that a good time was had by all. There is no way my words can describe the sights and sounds of the day but we will try. First, this is a personal note so forgive me for the indulgence. However, there were a couple of notes this morning about what was written yesterday so a follow up seems fitting. There are occasions where only the personal seems to be appropriate.

We all got up early to get my son dressed. The shirt waited for him all ironed and clean. Here is a sad fact about his clothing. He wore a pair of MY shoes to the event. His feet are really larger than mine even at his age of 13. I got his shirt on him then tied his tie around my neck first. It fit him perfect when we got it on him with his collar down. There were the traditional pre prom photos to be taken. Then it was off to the bus to school. Last year I sent my daughter off to prom with the same rituals. Now it is my little man going off to the dance.

They did not take the bus to Kilgore High School. Yes, they got a limo to drive them over. From all accounts it was a great ride. The girls were all in their dresses that were donated to them by a store in Longview. One of the guys didn't want to wear his suit and tie I hear. He did at least have clothes on when I arrived at the school. The high school here sent a few students along to dance with the honorees. Everyone looked quite elegant in their attire. My son even kept his tie on the entire event even though his shirt tail tended to come out.

The school was decorated much like you would expect for a prom. There were decorations in every corner. A booth was set up in a corner of the gym for the photos to be taken of students in their fine clothing. My youngest was totally enamored by the DJ who worked the dance. He simply had so much electric technology that mine could not resist. Some of the lights were turned off on the gym floor as it would be for a dance. That floor was usually fairly full during the time I was there. Lunch was served in another section of the school. There were balloons on every table. We dined on fine pizza and cold drinks. Yes, my son stole two pieces of my pizza but he was quite hungry from his physical gyrations.

When you go to something like this, you cannot help but notice all types of special needs children. We are actually pretty lucky with ours in comparison to some of the students attending today. Some are bound to wheelchairs for the duration of their life. Some cannot feed themselves. There were some who cannot communicate much if at all to those around them. We tend to forget that we live in a world where disability and deformity are daily occurrences. There were indeed other students there with far less visible limitations. One of the girls that I noticed took two or three glances to realize she did have very mild Down's Syndrome. She is one of the rare ones though as most of the students obviously live with more limitations than my son.

The dancing was amazing. You could look out on the floor and see wheelchairs circling and swaying in motion with the music. I got a photo of what appeared to be a dad and his daughter softly swaying at mid court. It became obvious that my awareness of current dance music is sadly lacking. Because of that my time was given to taking a photographic record of the proceedings. Not sure my insurance would pay for any damage that I may do to others if dancing is attempted. Even the teachers were out among the students strutting their stuff. Obviously not all of them spent their nights in the library while in college.

In the end, the room was filled with kings and queens of the prom. The music was loud. The preparations were terrific. The students were tired when it was over. Buses from all over East Texas were lining up to gather their group as I left. My guess is around 500 total were in attendance. No one noticed they were weird or odd. It was clear that every one there is "fearfully and wonderfully made" by God Himself. Why he creates some with strangeness is beyond my understanding. Maybe those of us who think we are normal are the ones on the odd side of life. You have your weirdness as I have mine. So maybe we should ease up on each other when comparing. I'm off so my son and I can be sure our blue shirts get in the laundry together. The prom is over but the celebration continues.

Bro. Trey