This is a picture of me and my quinceanera court. We are in the church taking pictures before my ceremony started. There are 15 couples including my self to represent each year of my age. The girls that are in the red are girls that are around my age to represent my youth. The women in the silver are “padrinas”, or godmothers in Spanish. They each present me with a gift along with the “padrinos” or godfathers. The boy in the white is my escort. I can remember this day like it was yesterday.

I wake up to the singing of my mom, singing me happy birthday even though my birthday was yesterday. The big day is finally here, I’ve been waiting all year for this day to come. I get ready to go to the church, while my carriage awaits, also known as my dad’s 1999 Toyota Tundra. We arrive at the church and all of my family is here waiting to start this memorable day. We hand out all of the flowers to the girls and the boutonnieres to the guys.

The rest of my family and friends arrive, and my court lines up in the church basement so we can march in for the procession. Everyone has walked down the aisle and now it is my turn. Everyone stands up and cameras flashes are going off in every direction. It feels like I am being followed by paparazzi. I can here my grandma crying from a distance. I start to walk down the aisle with my dad on my left and my mom on my right. I walk down the aisle, but no man is there to take my hand in marriage, only womanhood is standing there awaiting my arrival and my childhood left behind me.

The father blesses me and recognizes my coming of age ceremony. Now it is time for my godparents to present me with my gifts. All of my godparents come up to the front of the church with their gift and the father blesses them all. The first gift I receive is my tiara, from my Tia Cristina and Tio Frankie. My dad is in the background reading the significance of each gift. The tiara symbolizes a princess before God. Next I received my bible from my Tia Josie and Tio Michael. The bible is a resource to keep the word of God in my life. Then I received a rosary from my cousins Ramon and Robyn. The rosary is to symbolize the importance of religion. Next I received my earrings from my cousins, Juan and Gina. The earrings are a symbol to listen to the word of God. I then received a medallion from my Tia Alicia and Tio Alex. The medallion is to remember the special day for the rest of my life as I wear it around my neck. After the medallion, I received my bracelet and ring which symbolize the never ending circle of life, and the future of my contributions. My bracelet was supposed to be presented to me from my Tio Nando and Tia Kathy, but my Tio Nando has prostate cancer and he was in a lot of pain today and was not able to come, so my cousins Ana and Cisco presented me with the bracelet. I received my ring from my Uncle Phillip and Aunt Keri. The next thing I received was my doll from my Tio Richard and my Tia Joann. The doll is a symbol of the last doll I will get, for that is a sign of my childhood and I am a woman now. The last gift I received were my roses that I got from my cousins, Frankie and Valencia. The roses are what I present to the Virgin Mary as a gift for giving thanks.

When the ceremony finishes, the air force jets flew over the church, from the Ku vs. K-State football game. We all go to the Knights of Columbus to get things set up for the reception. The staff is nice enough to roll out the T.V so we can watch the rest of the game. The rest of our guests arrive and out comes the food. We say grace and we start to chow down. Almost 250 of my closest friends and family are here at the reception to help me celebrate my birthday. It’s 7 o’clock and my big performance is almost here. Some girls from my dance group and I start to get changed into our Mexican dancing outfits. This is the first time that I danced with a glass on top of my head. The lights go dim and we begin to line up and start our dance. My body is so tense, and I am barley smiling because all of my concentration is on balancing the glass on top of my head. Everything was a success and no one dropped their glass. A huge burden came off of my shoulders once my last performance ends. Now it is time to party.

By the time midnight rolled around I was already pooped out and falling asleep on the chair. It has been a long day and it is way past my bedtime. We still have to clean up and pack everything to take it back to my house. As we pack I feel very grateful and thankful that my parents sacrificed their time and money on this special event.

This day was unforgettable and I will forever remember it. I hope once day that if I have a daughter, she will want one so she can have her day in the spotlight!