Prom Pose

Going to prom is a big event in people’s lives; it’s an even bigger deal when you’re Autistic.   My little brother, Anthony, is going to prom this year with a few more boys from his special needs class.  He turned 22 on Saturday {Cinco de Mayo} so this is the last year he’ll be able to attended a prom.  Tony, as he likes to be called, has Asperger’s Disorder which is a milder variant of Autism {which loosely translates to: he’s a high functioning Autistic man.} 

He’s very sensitive, sweet, repetitive, loves video games, is good at math, music, & science, but lacks social skills amongst a few other things.  Something that can be seen as a downfall is how “normal” he looks, he gets picked on a lot because people can’t tell he’s special by looking at him, they think he’s just “weird,” and EVEN THOUGH no one should be picking on anyone, let’s face it, kids can be cruel, and it’s hard to be him, so the fact he gets to attend prom with all the other seniors is pretty major feat.   Not only is he going to prom, he also has a date, who’s in college {he loves to point that out}, she’s the special needs director's daughter who agreed to go with him, which proves that some people can be fantastic! 

Over the weekend {on his birthday} we took Tony to Men’s Warehouse to get fitted for his Tux that was donated by a man we’ve never met {another fantastic humane}. 

The mystery good doer also donated a tux for Aaron, another special needs boy.  It was so cute watching them both try everything on and making their decisions.  Aaron requested a white tux with a black shirt {like John Travolta from Saturday Night Fever},

but we quickly nudged him into going with a white shirt instead, but he’ll still be rock’n a white tux, don’t worry.

When ask, Tony replied, “Let’s go with classic black.” Then he looked up and noticed this ensemble and added, “I want that entire look…”

When we pointed out that his date will be wearing a blue dress, he said, “Yep, and I’m wearing purple.”  Well alright, we’ll just ask the florist {who’s donating the flowers, so amazing!} to put a purple ribbon on his dates corsage and a blue ribbon on his boutonnière, problem solved. 

We’re currently trying to find a limo service to donate or discount a car for the group that’s going.  We want them to have the full experience.   Some people don’t understand why things needs to be donated, “Why can’t you just pay for their stuff like everyone else?”  I can understand where you’re coming from, you don’t have the familiarity with the cost that goes into raising someone with these disorders, I’ll give you a hint, insurance doesn’t cover all their medical cost… Moving on.  While celebrating the rest of Tony’s birthday I offered to take photos of the group before they ride away to dinner, I jokingly said to my Mom, “Awe, I wish Cody & I could go to prom as chaperons, that would be so neat, not only to watch Anthony and to take pictures, but to go to prom with my husband!”  I thought nothing more of it, but this morning I received a phone call that turned my Monday completely around!

“I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it, I’m about to lose control and I think I like it!”  Why the 1982 Pointer Sister reference?  Beside the fact that the song is amazing… We’re going to prom!!!  My mom was talking to Mrs. Copelen {sp?}, Anthony’s teacher, and she told her how Cody & I offered to take photos of the group before leaving to dinner, Mrs. Copelen was very appreciative and added how she wished someone could tag along to take photos of the entire night, my mom, remembering my comment from two days prior, told Mrs. Copelen how I already mentioned that, and voilà, we’re going to prom!

I'm now in planning mode.  I demanded a corsage from Codiy, he laughed, but he knows I’m serious.  Those that know me, KNOW I immediately thought, “What am I going to wear?!!!  And how am I going to style my hair??!!”  but we’ve got that figured out.  Yes we were asked at 10:00 am but I’m shocked it took me this long to nail it down {it’s now 3:30 pm}.

Cody will wear his 3 piece heather gray suit from our wedding, a white button-up shirt, with a polka dotted bow tie.

I’ll wear this gorg backless black 1950’s inspired dress with black satin wrist gloves and either the shoes shown here, or a pair of polka dotted pumps.  Choices, choices, choices...

I’m up in the air about my hair style, I want it to be retro to match my dress, I have to talk to my hair stylist to see what he think!

I'm going to take a massive amount of photos that I’ll be sharing on here for sure.  Pray/Wish us luck that everything goes smoothly & that someone will donate a limo for the evening as well!

Happy Prom Anthony!