For many Americans, prom is a rite of passage, but 97-year-old Helen Danis never had the chance — until last week.
Danis, who lives in West Warwick, Rhode Island, was in high school during the Great Depression and couldn’t afford to go to prom — among other things.
“I couldn’t keep up with the kids,” Danis tells Rhode Island’s NBC 10 News. “I didn’t really fit in. We were in the middle of a depression and money was scarce.”
Danis’ granddaughter, Julie Huddon, says her grandmother has had a lot of firsts lately.
“We’ve been doing a lot of things that she has said she wanted to do,” says Huddon. “She sat on Santa’s lap for the first time in December.”
So when prom season rolled around, Huddon, whose son attends nearby Pilgrim High School, asked the principal if she could attend the dance with a special guest. He agreed, and Huddon sent her grandmother a genuine “Promposal.”
Helen Danis with her familyFacebook“I got a crown for her and wrote her a note, asking her to be my date to prom,” says Huddon. “She’s mentioned a couple times about not being able to go to her prom.”
She even bought her grandmother a dress — an “orchid” gown with a lace top and bolero jacket — and a corsage, or course.
“It’s a nice dress, a long dress,” says Danis. “[Julie] says, ‘You’re going to a prom,’ so here I am.”
Last Friday, the pair was picked up by a trolley car and brought to the Rhodes on the Pawtuxet ballroom, where Danis says she danced the “Hully Gully.”
“I feel blessed that I can share some of her memories,” says Huddon. “I’ll always remember this night.”
