Long. I can think of no other word to describe some of these Miss Mississippi days. Having been a hostess, and now a contestant’s mother, I thought I would feel differently about the passing of days during pageant week. But they are long.

I don’t mean to put that word in a negative connotation. Surely, some of you read it in a low, bedraggled voice: llloooonnnngggg. But there’s so much more to it. Sometimes long can be a positive descriptor.

There are so many activities poured into each and every Miss Mississippi day. At times, it’s hard to believe it can all be accomplished.

Today, for instance, my daughter will have her final talent rehearsal and sound check, she will attend a luncheon at The Anthony, she will have a group rehearsal for tonight’s show, and then there’s the actual preliminary which can take up to three hours to complete, after which, we will see her during visitation.

While her group rehearses for the talent competition, other groups are downtown signing autographs and creating that spark of a dream for a new generation of potential Miss Mississippis. The girls are always “on.”  That’s the job for which they applied, and they take it very seriously.

They know this is an experience that few will ever have, so they relish in the length of the days. They know that when they look back, it will seem that the long days passed too quickly.

Before pageant week, I had mentioned I dreaded those late-night phone calls when the exhaustion and stress of the competition would eventually take its toll. While there have been brief moments of concern, they have been few and far between. Rather, I’ve watched my daughter lovingly comfort her grieving siblings when their long days were not so full of gourmet meals and the adoration of small children.

Each of the contestants has a family who has sacrificed for them to compete.

For every girl you see on the stage, there’s a daddy who works countless hours of overtime, carries heavy luggage, drives thousands of miles, and sits through hours of pageantry when they would rather be outside.

For every girl on the stage, there are brothers and sisters who willingly take a back seat during pageant week to watch their sister shine.

And for every girl on the stage, there’s a mother who can’t believe the longs days have come and gone in such a short blink of an eye.

Kristy Brumfield is the mother of Colby Brumfield, who is competing in the Miss Mississippi Pageant. Colby is the reigning Miss Warren County. Kristy has been associated with the pageant over the years, but this marks her first year as a “pageant mom.”