You know how historically there’s a bit of fear and trepidation around prom? Well, for parents anyway. Oh, c’mon, I know you do.

But not when there’s a wild child involved.

Exactly seven days before CJ’s junior prom, Vicki stopped me at the youth group auction and shared that she had a sudden cancellation for the next weekend and she’d offered to take our fine group of young people from church to the Hopkins High School prom. I don’t think my smile could have been any wider because if you know Vicki, you know there isn’t anyone else that you’d want to go to prom with. And you’d also know that you wouldn’t have felt safer with anyone else either. Win. Win.

See, Vicki has her very own actual school bus that she’s dubbed ‘wild child.’ She’s available for your own personal party needs, by the way. But Vicki is also one of our fearless youth group leaders. And, as I mentioned, she’s our favorite bus driver because the few times that CJ rode the bus as a child, she was the one who drove our route. And he loves her. Loves. Her. We all do. There are few who relate to the kids as well as she does. She is joy. She is fun. She’s the kids’ biggest fan. And she loves Jesus.

When I found out that CJ was planning to go, I was so stoked for him. I just knew that it would be the most fun evening. And the kids didn’t have to plan a dinner out. Even bigger win! The young lady’s parents who hosted the kids also offered to feed them. This prom was getting sounding better by the day!

This mattered because I’d purchased a prom package at an auction a couple months back that included a limo ride and dinner. But … the limo is only available for rental on every day of the week that doesn’t start with ‘Satur.’ Wah wah. And the dinner? It was already booked over a week prior. So this meant everything would actually work out. And that we can rent a limo for another fun day that is not a Saturday. And I can go to a fancy dinner anytime I want.

What I was not prepared for in any of it was making sure my handsome young man was properly outfitted. We’d never rented a tux before. I don’t know how to do these things. I found a place in Holland with great reviews and called them in a panic about two weeks prior because I have no idea how long you need to get a tux. They were, thankfully, able to accommodate and CJ and I headed over on a Thursday night. Within fifteen minutes, we’d found the perfect tux. When he tried on the jacket, I might have teared up a little. We picked it up a week later and with a quick alteration and a pair of shoes we were good to go. The only other thing we needed to pick up was a corsage and thank the good Lord in Heaven, Abby’s mom, Pam, reminds me of this ahead of every dance. All of them. My go-to florist was game with two days to spare and suddenly it felt like Saturday and CJ was upstairs getting dressed preparing to pick up his lovely date.

After all the prep, it was time for this mama to take some photos and enjoy kids being kids with the other ‘wild child’ kid herself. We met up in Hamilton first and while the temperatures were not ideal for a prom, the bus load met us with giant smiles, stunning attire and enough goose bumps to make you feel for the young ladies. But not bad enough to avoid taking far too many photos. We followed the crew back to Tally’s parents’ house (they’re my heroes for making this all happen, by the way) and found ourselves on a new-to-me side of Dumont Lake for a few more.

All in all, it was everything this mama could have hoped for. I only heard a few grumbles about the dance itself but I’d dare to say those aren’t the memories CJ will take from this prom.

I’m so entirely grateful to those who made the experience an incredible one. Abby, Vicki, Mindy, Dan, all of the parents donating food, young people, farm animals, my parents, Pam and Jon. Thank you. This is a prom I won’t forget either.