The high school Prom that crushed Spirits! šŸ˜ž

Iā€™ve been trying to enjoy the life stages of my older teens and the daily pitsĀ of emotionsĀ thatĀ they are sharing with us. So, writing hasnā€™t made the top of my priority list recently. Until, an event so shocking and downright sad just threw itself in my face this past weekend.

TheĀ 2020Ā CoVidĀ virus has had such a toll on us all, worldwide. As I write this, weā€™re 1 year and 2 months into our historical pandemic and all the highs and lows it has brought our way. The highs have been shooting star high, and the lows to theĀ bottom of the pitĀ of whatā€™s felt like hell some days. But to step back, and really take a deep emotional look into it all, there have been so many life changing emotional moments, and a lot for the good!

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To keep this short and sweet, but to also put it out there like it should be,ā€¦.ThisĀ scenario puts us in the epic high school Senior promĀ activities. A year ago this time,Ā SeniorsĀ were ripped out of school in March and never went back to be able to say their goodbyes. Their innocent small town school days were tornĀ out from under them; no prom, no special celebrations, no graduation together, no grandparents or extended family to visit,ā€¦.It Ā may not sound hard to an adult, but to a 17/18 year old, these kids wereĀ absolutelyĀ heartbroken. šŸ’”

So, what did our community do? We ā€œadoptedā€ them all! At our house we gathered together items to put inĀ toĀ thoughtful, age appropriate baskets. We tied school colored balloons on them, and my teens drove all over town hand delivering them toĀ graduates. The amount of gratitude,Ā theĀ thank you cards from theĀ SeniorsĀ themselves, andĀ theĀ tearsĀ shedĀ was overwhelming! In this simple act we saw our kids grow so much emotionally that they were bursting at the seams.

Fast Forward to this school year,ā€¦..Due to the medically recommended and just plain common sense conditions,Ā theĀ localĀ high school put together aĀ ā€œSeniors only Promā€Ā send offĀ event. No underclassman, no dates from other schools, just them, together. AndĀ it turned into an amazing event!Ā Remembering that our Seniors today were the ones who also didnā€™t get a chance to go last year, rather they were putting together loving and thoughtful sendoffs for their Seniors.

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Like a slap in the face, and I know I shouldnā€™t complain, but wow!!! This year a group of parents from the Junior Class choose to teach the lesson of exclusivity, entitlement, andĀ in your faceĀ sadnessĀ for a lot of teensĀ out there. The specifics of who are not known,Ā or really important for this lesson,Ā but this group put together aĀ ā€œJuniorsĀ onlyā€Ā PromĀ event, and did not even invite the entire Junior class. It was a parent led, and likelyaĀ financially privileged group only.

The emotions must have been so severeĀ within this class, that it required the high school to send out anĀ officialĀ email to the entire district saying that they were not the organizers, and they had no control overĀ who got invited to thisĀ event.Ā šŸ¤¦ā€ā™€ļø

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So the chance to choose the other path, the one whereĀ the juniors could have volunteered their timeĀ and donated their resources to helpĀ theirĀ seniors? No, this is where I run out of words,ā€¦..such anĀ in your face exampleĀ of how we areĀ capable ofĀ treating each otherĀ wrong. When given the choice, please take a step back and try to realize the enormous life lesson that was completely lost here,ā€¦.andĀ sadlyĀ it happens all the time.

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Imagine yourself as one of those 11thĀ graders in high school who found out a group of parents decided to throw their own prom for your class, and chose not to invite you.

Sadly I felt this needed to be written. Itā€™s just sad, thatā€™sĀ all. šŸ˜”

Live, Laugh, Love with everything youā€™ve got while you still can! šŸ’œāœØThank you so much for being a part of my writing journey here. I truly appreciate and value you all.