This is a big year in our household. It is a year of lasts, as Erin enjoys her final year of high school, and all the fun that goes with it. She is almost grown, a beautiful young woman, inside and out, with a zest for life and a knack for fun that draws people to her.
I feel like we have fast forwarded through the last 17 years, like some kind of crazy time warp, but this year is the fastest yet. I look ahead with both enthusiasm and dread at the separation that is coming so quickly, in so short a time. I can't help but wonder how we got from preschool to senior year of high school so soon. We have already seen the final first day of school come and go. This week, it was homecoming, culminating with a dance on Saturday night. Ironically, and perhaps fittingly, it was also Halloween.
Halloween is one night in the year when Erin always allows her imagination to run away with her enthusiasm. Never one to allow an opportunity for a good time to pass by without her participation, she was determined to have her final homecoming, and still enjoy Halloween as well.
Things started out traditionally enough. She fell in love with a dress she saw this summer, and it quickly became apparent that she was not going to be able to live without it. We took it home long before she knew that homecoming and Halloween would be the same evening. Fortunately, it was black and white, and would work with the holiday theme she ultimately devised.
Her first unconventional move was to join forces with her friend, Ali, to go as each other's date. The reasons why each of them was otherwise dateless don't merit discussion here - they both determined early on that they would have the most fun going with each other. It turned out to be an excellent choice, I would say, given how much fun they had.
They each had a beautiful little dress, Erin in black and white, and Ali in all black. Then, they added the zombie features that would turn the event into Another Fun Occasion. Erin and Ali, actresses both, with a flair for the dramatic, ripped their stockings, painted on their lipstick scars, and wore each a glove - the most captivating zombies I have ever seen.
The Zombie Dates - Erin and Ali, Halloween Homecoming, 2009
My contribution to the evening was their wristlet corsages, a last minute addition dreamed up from items laying around the house. The end result was festive, fun and cheap, and if nothing else, added a little flair to their costumes. One thing was for sure, no one else had anything like them!
As has become a tradition, Erin and Ali, together with the third musketeer, Kelly, took over my bathroom in the afternoon, and prepared for their big evening. As always, we took the first pictures of the three of them, posing in the living room, and just having the fun of being themselves.
Kelly, Erin and Ali - all dressed up and ready to scare!
They are a bevy of beautiful girls, genuinely funny and real and never afraid to throw themselves into the occasion. I will miss these opportunities next year, when I will no longer have the fun of peeking into their world for a few hours, and participating in their off the wall fun.
One of my goals as a mom has always been to be in the moment, to enjoy the time I am having now, and to not look backwards or forwards, regretting or anticipating another time. Next year, everything will be different, everything will change. In the end, I have only the limited time that I have now to build the memories for a lifetime, and I have to make the most of it before this time has gone.
But one thing will never change - my abiding joy at being Erin's mom. Erin has already given me a lifetime of joyous experiences, and the wonder of her has never ceased to amaze me. From her first dance, to the last, I cherish every moment.
Just one question - has anyone seen my bathroom counter? Because that's where the real scares can be found.
Happy Halloween!
