Day 233: The Middle School Dance

Tonight I had to forget my comfortable pajamas (which is all I can think about on Friday afternoons), leave my cozy home, and attend the middle school dance. As a chaperone, of course.

I didn't mind too much, actually. The kids are pretty good, and it's always nice to see them in settings outside of the classroom; that's where you really get to know them. Plus, who can resist a bunch of 11- and 12-year-olds in puffy little princess dresses?

I danced with the girls and served pizza to the boys and honestly had a pretty good time. My duties weren't that strenuous either, so I had some time to just sit and think. And seeing all the kids awkwardly holding hands and asking each other to dance really took me back to the beginning of my relationship with Brandon.

We were several years older than these kids when we started dating, but we still had many of the same awkward moments. I remember at the Homecoming dance my senior and his junior year of high school, which was technically our first date, that neither of us was sure if we should hold hands. We'd been friends for quite some time, and crossing the line into romantic relationship territory made us both feel a bit unsure. But we liked each other, so we gave it a shot.

I reminisced about things of this nature for several hours, as I watched the girls gossiping on one side of the room while the boys went to get more pizza on the other. They're still so young, and most of the boy-girl relationships are just friendships; but they are definitely starting to like each other now. It's precious to watch their little romances blossom. And you know, as the adult in the room, that most of these romances won't last two weeks, much less a lifetime. But Brandon and I are proof that you really can't predict when that person is just going to come along.

I mean, we were just two friends, neither of us looking for anything more, who decided to go to Homecoming together. By the end of that night, after some awkwardness, we were holding hands in the high school gym. And then, all of a sudden, it was 10 years later and we were holding hands on the beach and saying, "I do."