September 10, 2011 is a day that I will either learn to love, or learn to hate. It is official, and there is no going back now. Kai will be having her Quinceañera on this date. For those who are not familiar with this, it is like a Sweet Sixteen, but for us Hispanics, it is something that we celebrate at 15. All of my sisters, nieces and cousins and myself have celebrated with one.
I had honestly discarded the idea months ago. I had no intention of going through this humongous ordeal, because it is humongous!! I had sat down and talked to Buddy about this. I explained to him that with what this was going to cost us, we could send Kai to Europe for the summer, or maybe even send her to NYC for a whole summer so that she could take some dance intensives instead. He was not happy, and he wanted her to have it. I simply said, NO, I'm not doing it. And unless Buddy magically turned into Franc from Father of the Bride, it wasn't going to happen without my help.
Then, the unthinkable happened. My mom got sick. My mom has had a savings account for Kai and her "dresses" for as long as I can remember. Probably since she was born. My mom had always said that she wanted God to let her live long enough until Kai had her Quinceañera. It was probably November when I told my mom that I had scratched the whole thing, and that I just didn't feel like having one. That we were going to either send her to Europe, or NYC for the summer instead. She didn't seem disappointed, and I left it at that.
On the morning of my moms surgery, my sisters and I were in the waiting room of the ICU. They both said how much my mom wanted this for Kai, and how sad she was that I wasn't going to have it. They asked me to reconsider, and to please tell my mom before she went into surgery. Maybe they were being hopeful. They thought that she had given herself a time frame and I had taken it away from her. They wanted her to have something to look forward to. I thought about it for a second, and quickly agreed with them. I gowned up, and I walked into my moms room. She was awake, she was still connected to a million things, and was still in tubated, so she couldn't talk. I grabbed her hand and told her that she had promised to make it to see Kai's 15th and that she had to keep that promise. That I had decided to go ahead with the planning of her party. She looked at me, and she started crying. Crying like a baby, and my heart broke in a million pieces. When I walked back into the waiting room with my sisters, I was still wiping my tears. They asked "Did you tell her?" and I said "Yes!"
Today, my mom is still with us. I don't know if what I told her the morning of her surgery helped her pull through, and gave her something to look forward to, but I do know that there is no looking back. That she remembered, and has been talking about this a lot. She is excited, and I can not take this away from her.
And so now onto the planning! I feel like I am already behind. These events take a lot of planning, A LOT. I am in the process of putting together four inspiration boards. One for each theme and color palette that I have in mind. After I am done with those, I will sit down with Kai and my immediate family to discuss and decide.
I have narrowed it down to three different venues one of which is more likely. I have appointments with each one next week. The location I originally wanted, does not host Sweet Sixteens, or Quinceañera's. I was devastated, but I think that it was for the better, because these other venues are pretty awesome too.
As of right now, we are keeping our guest list at 300 and hoping that it stays at that. SO much to think about, SO much to do. Even though it's 585 days away, I'm sure it will go by very fast. And isn't the date so cool? 9-10-11......I think so.
So, Buddy, I hope you are happy now to. You don't have to be Franc, I will take care of all the details. And even though you are WEAK when it comes to Kai, I'm glad that you are.
I had honestly discarded the idea months ago. I had no intention of going through this humongous ordeal, because it is humongous!! I had sat down and talked to Buddy about this. I explained to him that with what this was going to cost us, we could send Kai to Europe for the summer, or maybe even send her to NYC for a whole summer so that she could take some dance intensives instead. He was not happy, and he wanted her to have it. I simply said, NO, I'm not doing it. And unless Buddy magically turned into Franc from Father of the Bride, it wasn't going to happen without my help.
Then, the unthinkable happened. My mom got sick. My mom has had a savings account for Kai and her "dresses" for as long as I can remember. Probably since she was born. My mom had always said that she wanted God to let her live long enough until Kai had her Quinceañera. It was probably November when I told my mom that I had scratched the whole thing, and that I just didn't feel like having one. That we were going to either send her to Europe, or NYC for the summer instead. She didn't seem disappointed, and I left it at that.
On the morning of my moms surgery, my sisters and I were in the waiting room of the ICU. They both said how much my mom wanted this for Kai, and how sad she was that I wasn't going to have it. They asked me to reconsider, and to please tell my mom before she went into surgery. Maybe they were being hopeful. They thought that she had given herself a time frame and I had taken it away from her. They wanted her to have something to look forward to. I thought about it for a second, and quickly agreed with them. I gowned up, and I walked into my moms room. She was awake, she was still connected to a million things, and was still in tubated, so she couldn't talk. I grabbed her hand and told her that she had promised to make it to see Kai's 15th and that she had to keep that promise. That I had decided to go ahead with the planning of her party. She looked at me, and she started crying. Crying like a baby, and my heart broke in a million pieces. When I walked back into the waiting room with my sisters, I was still wiping my tears. They asked "Did you tell her?" and I said "Yes!"
Today, my mom is still with us. I don't know if what I told her the morning of her surgery helped her pull through, and gave her something to look forward to, but I do know that there is no looking back. That she remembered, and has been talking about this a lot. She is excited, and I can not take this away from her.
And so now onto the planning! I feel like I am already behind. These events take a lot of planning, A LOT. I am in the process of putting together four inspiration boards. One for each theme and color palette that I have in mind. After I am done with those, I will sit down with Kai and my immediate family to discuss and decide.
I have narrowed it down to three different venues one of which is more likely. I have appointments with each one next week. The location I originally wanted, does not host Sweet Sixteens, or Quinceañera's. I was devastated, but I think that it was for the better, because these other venues are pretty awesome too.
As of right now, we are keeping our guest list at 300 and hoping that it stays at that. SO much to think about, SO much to do. Even though it's 585 days away, I'm sure it will go by very fast. And isn't the date so cool? 9-10-11......I think so.
So, Buddy, I hope you are happy now to. You don't have to be Franc, I will take care of all the details. And even though you are WEAK when it comes to Kai, I'm glad that you are.
Comments
All I know is that by what I've seen before by your parties, this one will be awesome!!