'PROMPOSAL'

(Last Saturday was the Junior Prom of my youngest son. Do you know that these days kids go through the whole nine yards in asking someone to prom? Gosh! It’s a whole production number. It’s very entertaining to listen to their stories how they asked their dates to prom. Today I wish to share this article entitled “PROMPOSAL” written by my son Anton Fausto.)

Is everything set?  Are all the signs ready?  Do her friends know?  Have we practiced enough?  Do I know what to do?  These are the questions that run through a typical junior student’s mind before he pops one of the biggest questions in his life (for now), “Will you go to Prom with me?”  Because the highlight of our junior year is the prom, we can’t help but fret over the way we ask our “promspect,” hoping that the way we ask would somehow influence her answer in our favor.  We go through so much preparation and planning just to ask a simple question.  We spend many hours in and out of school, making signs, coordinating and practicing.  Why go through all the hassle and effort just for that?  Simple.  Because it’s special.

Being an active member of my school’s dance organization and having a lot of friends who are dancers, I decided to utilize this skill for my “promposal.”  But what about my other close friends who are not dancers?  I also want them with me in this big event. It’s a good thing that they can sing.  And so I decided to make my promposal a collaboration of my friends who dance and sing. I arranged a song and dance rendition of one of my favorite OPM songs by the Apo entitled Panalangin, a song my promspect also loves.

The week for preparations came and it passed by very slowly.  I wanted it to be a short but sweet number.  In school I held practices with the “cast” (four dancers, five singers and I) after dismissal and before my regular dance training. Fortunately, my classmates knew the song Panalangin because even if I could teach someone how to dance, I didn’t have a clue how to teach singing.  At home I stayed up late at night after studying to make my signs and although I’m not gifted in the Arts, I was determined to compensate for it with hard work and creativity. Everything was set for that special Thursday night in December. It had to be at a certain time and should not last very long because it coincided with her quarterly exams.

The day came and like a basketball player waiting for the big game, I was nervous for my promposal.  After my dance org’s training that night, all my friends were dressed up in white long sleeved polo shirts, black slacks and black ties.  I was in the same outfit but with a maroon necktie.  When we got to her village, we stopped by the house of her neighbor, who was also my friend, for that one last practice.  Some of the neighbors were watching us from their gardens and when they found out what we were doing, they even wished us well,  “Good luck sa inyo!”

We arrived in her house and like what usually happens, not everything I had planned for happened.  The music using the van’s speakers didn’t play on cue. Everyone was in position behind the van, frantic about the delay. My promspect waited outside her house for a whole minute. When the music finally started playing, I, together with the other dancers, came out from behind the van and started dancing for her.  Later my singers appeared serenading her, “Panalangin ko sa habang buhay…at sana naman, makikinig ka…”  I can still clearly remember her smiling nervously with excitement while we performed.  Our performance was carried out smoothly and although many things didn’t go according to my plan, it was still “perfect” because after I handed her the rose and popped the question she said YES!  Everyone cheered and the traditional pictures with the signs were taken and posted on FB, Twitter and even Instagram.  I was so thankful to everyone who helped me because I knew that I wouldn’t have pulled off this promposal on my own.

Every junior goes through this if he plans to bring a date to his Prom.  This is the highlight of junior year, an event that symbolizes the transformation of a boy to a man (well, there’s also circumcision of course). But I prefer this rite of passage because instead of wearing skirts, I’d be wearing a suit!  The prom is also an opportunity for us to show our manners as gentlemen, how we should conduct ourselves in a formal setting, and most especially, how we should treat a girl.

Although a promposal is only a tiny grain of sand compared to wedding proposal since there’s no commitment or marriage involved, it’s a milestone in a High School student’s life wherein he can show his individuality and creativity in asking that one simple question, “Will you go to Prom with me?”

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(To moms and dads who want to stalk, I mean, see the photos of their kids and their friends last Saturday, click this link.  And since we’re talking about proms, you may want to watch this dance video entitled Prom Dance performed by my other son during the dance concert of the Company of the Ateneo Dancers.)

ANNOUNCEMENT: It’s summertime, I know you’re all looking at booking your family vacation and enrolling your kids in different summer activities. You may also want to book your family for an afternoon of learning an important skill together. We’re holding a FAMILY FINANCE WORKSHOP on April 27, 2013 1:00 – 5:00 pm at the Seameo Innotech Commonwealth Ave. (near UP Ayala Technohub. Please call/text 0917-5395770 or email me at maryrose_fausto@yahoo.com for inquiries).

(Rose Fres Fausto is the author of the book Raising Pinoy Boys. Click this link to download free book sample To read her other articles go to www.RaisingPinoyBoys.com archive. Send your questions via email to maryrose_fausto@yahoo.com or text to 0927-5159011.)

This article is also published in www.RaisingPinoyBoys.com

Photo Credit: Images from genvieveng.com and howtodrawcartoon.com put together by the author to deliver the message of the article.