Senior prom was like the Holy Grail to me: unattainable, mythical, dreamy. Countless knights in shining armor would go on crusades for this. The fact was I wasn’t one to think that I ever had a chance to experience something like that. In any person’s life, there are a series of defining moments—first time walking, first time eating, first time looking into the mirror and realizing you’re looking at yourself, first time falling in love, first kiss, first A on your Spanish test…. And, of course, first date. First Homecoming dance. First prom.

The crazy thing is you’d still feel like that’s only the beginning: you still have everything from high school graduation, to moving out and moving into a dorm for college, getting your first job, getting married, being a dad, and countless other little moments that end up defining you.

But this mentality all starts from somewhere—typically when you’re tiny (not physically, of course, as you can imagine, but in terms of your life experience, your wisdom). This was certainly about a little moment I thought would never happen: senior prom.

I was nervous, yes. When I saw her, the nervousness multiplied by 20, 30, or 40. Lost count, honestly. Dressed elegantly in black with dolled-up hair and eyes of chestnut warmth, I was certainly mystified.

“You look…nice,” I said. Nice. Nice? That’s all? I was a nerd. A hopeless, mute, massively clumsy nerd.

She smiled. “Thank you.”

It wasn’t hard to feel like you were floating on air, not able to feel the ground, and wow that tie was tight. But when Mom ushered us together, so she could take a picture of us, it was truly cemented: this was my defining moment. And let’s just say it was only the beginning of what spawned a host of other little moments I thought would never happen.