Out of her element, she traipses across the stage a little too fast. Reddish-blonde hair, curled with attitude in mom’s bathroom hours earlier, bounces on her petite t-shirted shoulders. She twists, turns, then employs a sashay. The announcer thanks the young beauty pageant contestant.
Tortured minutes pass. Frightened, she returns to face the crowd. Her face fireworks when the announcer says she’s won.
Pushing her head through a sash, she grabs the trophy and smiles from the fit of the tiara. Then she displays something in public she’d only dreamed. Miss Infinity shows new found swagger, stage left.
****blogger’s note****
On Saturday, my teenage daughter, Tay, signed up for her first beauty pageant. One hundred percent of the proceeds went to brain cancer research and patients. The attire was jeans and t-shirts. Her grandfather passed from brain cancer in March, so she did this in his honor. She won. This is a proud parent moment in the form of 100 words for @velvetverbosity “Swagger” word this week.
http://www.velvetverbosity.com/
Today’s song came via the twitter from my friend Marian. I know Tom Petty’s American Girl is known for being in Silence of the Lambs when Buffalo Bill takes the Senator’s daughter so let’s give it another image. Here’s to Tay’s big win, my father’s pride for my American Girl.
You can feel your pride shining through this piece! Congratulations!
yeah,,,,tough to hide that. she’s a great kid.
Sweet – in both the “very cool” and the “happy father moment” kind of way.
I love the way you ended this: “Miss Infinity shows new found swagger, stage left.” And congrats to your daughter!
ha! thanks…we were shocked in a good way. she has pageant fever now.
Loved that last line. Tay, you go girl!
oh she swaggered…thanks aunt Tar Rah
I saw this on FB and was just thrilled for her and your family. She looked gorgeous! Out of loss comes something soooo good, that is making me teary. Proud Papa indeed.
read your comment to my wife. we both teared up. thank you. Tay was Poppy’s lifeforce. He is smiling in Heaven right now.
Beyond awesome! Doesn’t surprise me, though. Beautiful mom, brilliant dad. One can only assume she’d have swagger in spades.
waaaaay too compliments. You might make me get off the couch, sashay, wave, and flip my hair. …thanks dude…she and her mom are drop dead beautiful
A worthy cause to hold a beauty pageant! Congratulations to Tay on her win
thanks Carrie
I saw your pictures and was so excited for her–not because she won, as much as because it was such a neat chance for her to do something great for such a great cause so close to her (big giant) heart.
But I loved how it went from a “sashay” to a “swagger.” Get it, girl!
yeah…she’s went from scared shy little girl to confident young lady in just a few minutes. pageant or not, you would have been proud of her guts.
Very inspiring Lance. That’s really neat that she did this from the heart!
Yeah, it was done ona lark but now, she knows what it really meant. Plus she’s gained a lot of confidence. thanks.
Well done, Lance – and well done Lance’s lovely daughter.
thanks LOU!!!!!
When I intuited that your daughter was in a beauty pageant, I’ll admit I cringed. Then when I saw this, and the cause, and the attire – is there an opposite of cringe? This was really sweet of and for your daughter. Congrats to her and the proud parents.
thank you…im glad your word was swagger. it worked perfectly.
A beauty pageant with t-shirts and jeans. That might actually be something even an asshole cynic like me can get behind. Congrats to your daughter, and what a cool cool reason to participate.
thanks and you know how punk rock I am. I was shocked she was particpating.
Yep, its got proud papa written all over it. I love the words you chose to use in this too that really made it all come to life in my head—”her face fireworks” wow!! That’s some image. Really loved it. Congratulations Tay!
her face was beautiful in that moment…so special…you’re making me cry
It was the perfect word, seriously.
That is a proud parent moment… she is indeed a beauty queen… down to the polished toenails…
she’s pretty cool
Love the song and love the story. Yay, Tay!
thank you, she’s pretty awesome, isn’t she?
i didn’t know your word was “swagger” when i suggested this song, but that’s the first word i think of when i think of Tom Petty. i think i even have a poem about him with the word swagger in it. and i am super pleased to see that Tay found her swagger, if she didn’t have it before. that’s wonderful.
ha!! i know. once you mentioned Tom Petty it made sense. Tay Tay even likes this song.
i never ever think of silence of the lambs, either. which is good for me, yay.
Dating or being married to an American woman is like driving a beat-up Ford Escort. If you are only used to driving a beat-up Ford Escort, then you have no idea what it feels like when you drive a Bentley or Ferrari. You need to at least test-drive a Ferrari, so you’ll have a reference point on what a real car feels like. ^
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