It's here

I might have been in fourth or fifth grade when I saw a picture in National Geographic of a bunch of older kids getting in their limo to go to prom.

I distinctly remember the photo - I've begun a search through a hundred yellow back issues to find it - and less vividly, I remember my ten year old self thinking about what my own prom will be like. I was too young to know about the sex and typical drinking, but I was old enough to know that Prom night would be a milestone, a rite of passage, an exclusive event, a night that everyone should have and love and remember.

The time is now. I'm eight years older, still focused on the dream that I had at the time and I'm going with a few of my best friends, two of whom date back to my fifth-grade self and one of whom is my date. The stage is set, Prom is going to happen, and all of my elementary-school worries and wonders about it have been materialized.

So come at me, Prom. Show me what's in store. Bring me everything you've got.