Courtesy: Moser Family/FacebookTalk about a night to remember!
For high school student Ben Moser, finding a date to prom wouldn't be too tricky. The handsome junior is the football team's quarterback and is well regarded by his classmates.
But in a surprise turn of events, Ben remembered a promise he made in the fourth grade with his teacher Tracey Spogli. When he went to his first high school prom, he would definitely take his friend Mary Lapkowicz who has Down syndrome.
"I thought Mary was really cool," Ben told Pennlive when recalling their friendship since elementary school. "She was sweet and easy to get along with."
With several balloons that featured "prom" written on them, Ben presented his friend with the gift and asked her to be his date. She absolutely said yes!
"I was surprised," Mary told the publication with a smile on her face. "I was going to go with some friends." Instead, the high school student looked beautiful in a lavender gown as she posed for pictures with Ben and danced the night away.
"He has grown into a man with a big heart, a deep sense of putting others first, and most of all making people feel special and loved," Ben's mom Lisa Moser shared on Facebook with several photos from the special evening. "Today with joyful tears in my eyes and down my face I watched a promise made, 7 years ago, to a beautiful girl fulfilled."
As for Mary's parents and siblings, they are simply grateful for the young man who always looked out for their beloved family member.
"A lot of grade-school aged kids may have stayed away from my sister Mary or thought she was weird because she had Down syndrome. But not Ben. He always looked out for her," brother Tom Lapkowicz wrote on Facebook. "He always looked out for her, always made sure to pick her on his team at recess and even made a promise to her in 4th grade to take her to prom someday."
He continued, "7 years later, he made good on that promise and in the process put a smile on Mary's face & restored my faith in humanity."