The Passineau Family: Pittsburgh Edition: Michael's 40th birthday bash/80s prom

It was an amazing night!!! When I say that, I mean it. Everyone had the best outfits & we had a range of dress for the prom from traditional 80s prom fair to some famous look-a-likes--Axel Rose & Slash showed up with their groupies, we had an appearance by the King of Pop, several ladies decided to channel Madonna & several Don Johnson's arrived to get the party started. We began our evening with cocktails & appetizers, while I snapped prom pictures for all the lovely couples in attendance. Michael did a welcome & sang Quiet Riot's Come on Make Some Noise...it definitely set the tone for the evening as one of fun. Once everyone had arrived & had their pictures, Michael's sister did a moving slideshow for him documenting the first 40 years of his life. I followed her slideshow with a toast I had written, see below:

First, a thank you to Michael's mom & dad—now raising his children, I see a glimpse of the work you put in to raising him & I know it's hard work. A thank you to his sister & to all the family & friends that have invested in his life, he wouldn't be who he is without your influence.

Michael....You are a man who works hard for his family and pushes forward regardless of the struggles and obstacles that are placed in front of you. You’ve taught me to put my head down and push forward no matter what. You are a man of faith, who always keeps God at the head of our family. You provide stability & protection to our home. Without you the girls & I would be lost! You are my leader & I am proud to follow you.

You are the smartest person that I know. (Don’t let it go to your head, but it is true.)

I love the compassionate, caring husband & father that you are. You are larger than life in so many ways. Nobody makes me laugh the way you do. I love the silly things that you do and teach our girls to do –80s dance parties in the kitchen, funny hair styles, the list goes on....

Thank you for accepting me for who I am — a crazy, neurotic mess of a woman. Thank you for working to understand me & for giving me a life that I could have never imagined for myself.

Thank you for allowing me to be me and still loving me in spite of it.

You give me the strength that I need to get through the day. I am proud of you and everything that you’ve accomplished. I am forever grateful for the love that we share. 40 is just a number, in my eyes you will always be “Forever Young”!

Our "Prom King/Queen" dance came next. We were supposed to dance to Forever Young by Alphaville; however, my DJ totally messed that up & played Rod Stewart's Forever Young instead, oh well...We still danced (poorly) & enjoyed our time to shine. Dinner was served & everyone enjoyed some music from 80s soundtracks while we dined on grilled turkey loin, veggies, rice pilaf. We also had a pasta station with tortellini, mixed pasta shapes, homemade meatballs, freshly made bread. The vodka sauce was amazing!! We also had a fresh sage/pecan olive oil based sauce that was different, but very good. For dessert, we had Raspberry, Pecan, & French Apple pie....I'm eating the leftovers for breakfast as I type....yummm!!!

After everyone was full & happy, the party really got rocking. The DJ cranked up the music, disco ball, & dance lights & we all danced the night away. We had some amazing dancers on the floor & Michael Jackson himself could not have moon walked as well as one of our dear friends, the moonwalk combined with his almost perfect imitation of Michael Jackson's dance moves in his video "Beat It"....I'm telling you guys, I've never seen anything like this in person. Several brake dancers really got the crowd going. Another close friend, proved that his rigorous fitness routines are not just for triathlons & he did the "worm" all the way across the dance floor. Another friend lent her vocal talents & sang "Hit me with your best shot." Michael & I just danced poorly, but happily. One of my best memories will be when all the ladies joined me to dance to "Girls just want to have fun". Other friends broke out some old school freestyle, the "lawnmower", "washing machine", that "swim" move where you appear to swim across the dance floor, & my favorite the "sprinkler". When the last song started, Michael & I both pointed to each other in a way that said, get out here & we ended our night with couples slow dancing to Top Gun's "Take My Breath Away".....it was great :) So here are a flood of pictures to enjoy....although, I played photog for almost the entire night, it seems like I didn't b/c I was having such a great time. Our friend Ray did capture some shots of us dancing during our dance & some pics of my toast, for which I am thankful. For a cheapo homemade photo booth, I think the pics are great. Certainly, great memories that we will treasure for a lifetime. To those reading, who attended, thank you for celebrating with us! This is not all of the pics, but a good sample of the evening, some may be duplicates, I had trouble uploading :)

Michael's sister & her husband, Brett

Michael's high school buddy & his beautiful expectant wife, apparently she & her mom had quite a laugh about going to a prom in this condition...she's glowing & we are excited for them!