Paying it Forward....

A FB friend sent me something about Paying it Forward Friday last week. Well, I missed the note until today. However, as things/coincidences tend to happen that freak me out in my universe, I actually did Pay it Forward on Saturday night without knowing about the note, or even that there was a whole day last week dedicated to Paying it Forward.

Saturday night was date night....long overdue date night for me and the hubs...we went to Cheesecake Factory for dinner and drinks. Well, it must have been prom because the place was packed with young kids dressed to the 9's. Some of the dresses these girls were wearing....holy crap! Did their mothers NOT see them before they left the house? And I could make a fortune teaching these couples how to make sure their outfits compliment eachother for pictures...What? a white dress with a cream tux just doesn't photograph well....Anyway...that rant is for another blog post.

So my husband and I are sitting on the patio, enjoying our adult beverages, no kids interrupting our conversation, the gorgeous evening and beautiful Arizona sunset when the cutest couple walks in. From the back, her dress looks adorable, it is deep purple and the guy looks great in his tux with matching tie...I was impressed when the boy pulled out her chair, and more surprised to see this young girl was about 8 months pregnant. Instead of feeling sad for her and what she has to look forward to as a teenage mother, I notice that she is glowing and I am proud of her for making the effort to look beautiful and attend her prom.

I'm not sure what happened to me, but something stirred. I have sisters who were teenage mothers. Neither of them finished high school, and as far as I know, neither of them ever went to prom. I wanted to do something nice for this couple. But what to do? ...buy their dinner was my first thought, but after discussing it with the waiter, that would have actually been difficult as they just sat down and we were finishing up. Talking it over with my husband, we decided that we would give my niece (a single teenage mother) more money than she expected for babysitting and buy the couple's dessert.

In order to do that, I had to purchase a gift card. I bought the card and gave it to the couple telling them I remembered my prom (hell I went to 8 of them) and to have a good time. They were shocked yet very thankful.

What my husband doesn't know, and what the couple must have discovered after they opened the gift card to buy dessert, was that the gift card more than covered dessert AND their dinner. And while I'm sure they had their own money to spend, I remember how hard I had to work for my money and how much prom cost over 20 years ago. I would have crapped my pants if someone did that for me and my date! Hell, I would crap my pants if someone did that for me now!

I don't know what stirred in me that night, but it felt good and I want more of that feeling!

I just hope they pay it foward somehow.