When I was about 4 I dreamed about having my quinceanera, I was waiting for this day to come. It was my aunt’s quinceanera and I was dressed up exactly like her and from that day on I couldn’t wait till the day I was going to be able to be her, wearing that big poofy dress with her shiny crown, pretty makeup, a limo, and all the gifts she got. I always thought that having a quince was just a day where you got a big party and a lot of gifts but growing, maturing and actually living it changed me a lot.

I grew up with a father who really didn’t have experience with quinceaneras until he met my mom. He learned about them when my mom had her 15 and he really did not know their meaning. Everytime me and my mom would work on my mom would remind me of how hard she worked to get everything I wanted and how i should always be appreciative towards her in everything she did. When my quince started we did the blessing and while we were doing it the priest made me realize that one day my mom might just be gone and I will miss her and her presence. I was also very appreciative of my family members that helped and supported me, there were a lot of expenses and a lot of people helped out with what they could.

I started noticing something when I started asking my mom if I could go out, I got permission more often and I got to go places I usually don’t get to go to. My mom actually let me go to a sleepover for the first time ever. I was so surprised when she said yes I was jumping with happiness and I didn’t ask again so she wouldn’t change her mind, I guess since I’m 15 now she is giving me more freedom and is becoming more loose about me going out, I guess she is trusting me more to take care of myself and being safe. Along with the more liberty i got more responsibility, I had more stuff to do at home and me and my mom started talking about a possibility of getting a job to help out with the expenses and debt that we have.

My mom and I started to think about my dance choreography and my damas and chambelanes and we were really stressed out because we didn't want to get the chambelanes that everyone gets.  Me and my mom wanted to be unique and get something different so we did a ton of research and she found this choreographer in San Antonio and we really liked her past performances so my mom hired them, my job was to get my damas and so I began asking my friends, some said yes and some said no I ended up getting, cassandra,alex,kayla, and teri we had to go all the way to San Antonio for our practices but it was worth it because we got food and the chambelanes were awesome, they were professionals because they knew the dances pretty good and they really helped us we really created a bond with them and we became good friends. I was really surprised that my mom let me be good friends with them because ive never been able to talk freely about my guy friends without my mom thinking that i wanted something more with them. I became really good friends with a guy who has a tattoo and my mom didn’t see anything wrong with that because she knew that personally he was a good guy.

We got to the venue and I started greeting people and getting ready for the blessing while we were doing it I cried, a lot it was a very beautiful moment for me and a chance to recognize my mom and especially my great grandfather. The most important family members for me, the ones that really helped me grow up and know the meaning of a good family. They taught me how to be responsible and how to deal with life. They have been giving me more freedom and more chances of choosing my own decisions. I always thought I was never gonna be able to do what I wanted. Growing up I noticed that all my mom was doing was protecting me and now she gives me options since I’m starting to understand how life works, it takes patience but I’ll get to it.