In this episode of The Storyworth Podcast, storyteller Joan Maxwell shares the hilarious (and somewhat traumatic) events surrounding her senior prom -- and the plan her family hatches to save the day. Krista then chats with Joan about high school in the 60s and how the rest of prom night turned out.
I went to the prom with Tony, who is my boyfriend Bob's best friend. I had been going with Bob for a couple of years. Bob was already in the Air Force and couldn't come home for my prom.
The events of that day make me laugh now, but were pretty traumatic then. My sister had a beautiful dress that she wore to a wedding. I loved that dress, so I asked her if I could borrow it for my prom.
On the day of the prom, I went to have my hair done at a salon I had never been to, and it was pretty far away. The stylist was running behind and I was afraid I would be late getting home. On the way back, I got lost and I was just driving around forever looking for a street I knew. When I finally found my way home, I walked into my grandmother's apartment through the back door at the same time my date walked in through the front door in his tuxedo.
My mom and grandma were just standing there in the kitchen, crying. It was also too early for my mom to be home from work. I thought someone had died.
My mom said that grandma had burned a small hole in my prom dress while ironing it. She showed me the dress, and the hole was right in the center front, and it was as large as a medium-sized pancake. So then I started crying.
Then they brought in the big guns. These two women had a plan. My Aunt Grace was hiding in the next room. She walks in and they tell me Aunt Grace has come to the rescue. She was a pretty amazing seamstress and the plan was she would take apart one of my mom's formal dresses and sew it back together to fit me.
Seriously? My mom was at least 40 pounds and 4 dress sizes larger than me. They ignored my protests and before I knew it, Aunt Grace was taking the dress apart and pinning it on my body in record time. It took her only 30 minutes and the dress fit me perfectly.
While all of this was happening, Tony was waiting upstairs with my dad. The corsage he bought me was not the right color for my new dress. My dad gives Tony $5 and sends him back to the florist to get a new one.
My family worked like a well-oiled machine through this crisis. They stuffed my mom's matching shoes with tissues because they were too big for me. They handed me her matching purse. We took a few pictures at the house and off we went.
We weren't even late for dinner reservations. And we had a wonderful time. We double dated with my friends Terry and Bruce.
Later, I saw the pictures of me and Tony. My eyes are a little swollen in all of them from crying, but my hair looked fabulous. Mom, Grandma, and Aunt Grace really saved the day.
