Who Would Imagine a King

This song has been stuck in my head lately. Aaron started playing it for Este last week. Este hates it!

This part of the song is what keeps going through my head.....

Mommies and daddies always believe
That their little angels are special indeed
And you could grow up to be anything
But who would imagine a king?

You may ask, why this song?

It all started a few weeks earlier when I found out that he was one of the five finalists to be nominated for Homecoming King. I knew before he even returned home from school. News travels fast even in the city. A few days later he made it to the final three nominations.

On the Wednesday of Homecoming week the high school hosts a Community Pep Rally where they present the nominations for Homecoming Royalty. Each nominee is escorted out on the football field by a parent. I was quite stressed deciding which dress to wear and even more stressed about the shoes. I did not even want to attempt to wear heels on the turf and my wedges were all the wrong colors. At last I decided to wear my flat shoes and show the world how much taller my little boy is than me. I bought him a new shirt and tie to match my dress because, let's face it this was all about me. (Haha. I am joking there.)

I escorted him out of the football helmet tunnel. It would be a dream come true for my nephew Jace, who thinks the tunnel is the coolest thing ever!

I smiled like a beauty queen. He did not.

We were lined up with the other members of the Homecoming Court in front of the crowd.

I was grateful for one of the art student that captured this photo of us together. It is one of my favorite photos of all time.

Another photo that I love from that night was this one. I know we are not posing for the camera, but that is what I love about it. He will be gone soon and therefore I cherish every photo that we are both present in. 

For the presentation ceremony, Este had to write three things about himself that he wanted to be announced as he I escorted him on the field. First, Este is captain of the soccer team. He was all district and all academic district last season. Second, he has maintained straight A's throughout high school. Third, upon graduation he will serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The crowd roared.

After the nominees were presented, the entire school voted for Homecoming King and Queen the next day. Both Ethan and AJ told everyone in their class to vote for their brother. Este, however, voted for his friend. He hates being the center of attention and thought his friend deserved the title more than he did.

The announcement  and crowning took place during halftime of the Homecoming football game. He escorted Chelsea on the field. I feel bad for poor Chelsea. I am sure he was nasty sweaty and stinky. That didn't stop her from smiling. She is such a cute girl. I totally would have voted for her had they allowed parents and spectators to vote.

 Este was so suprised when they called his name. The studentbody had voted him Homecoming King.

Chelsea was voted Homecoming Queen.

Este was there to play a football game and handed off the crown as soon as he could and replaced it with his helmet. He is a football player first and foremost.

The royal couple even made it on the front page of the newspaper.

I will admit that my favorite picture of the royal couple was this one that Vanessa drew.

I kept thinking back to a year ago. Back then Este didn't know any girls to ask out to the Homecoming dance. He decided not to play football because he didn't know how he would fit into the team and wanted to focus on academics. He sat by himself at lunch that first week of school because he didn't know a single soul in the cafeteria. I told him to hang in there, that things would get better. I reminded him that the Lord brought us here for a reason. I promised that if he remained true to himself and was nice to people, good things would happen.  A year ago, none of us would have imagined him a king. I guess you could say that things did get better.