At her first prom, a 97-year-old Rhode Island woman wins prom queen
Prom night is a dream come true for many teenagers; for Rhode Island resident Helen Danis, the dream came a few decades later.
Danis, 97, grew up in the Great Depression and couldn't afford to go to her own prom.
Her granddaughter, Julie Huddon, was granted permission a few months ago from Pilgrim High School in Warwick – the school that Huddon's son Evan attends – to take Danis to senior prom this past weekend. It was part of a bigger plan to check off items on her grandmother's bucket list.
"She didn’t stop smiling the whole night!" Huddon wrote to USA TODAY in a message after prom. "It was so special to share this memory with her, not only for me but my son as well, her great grandson!"
Huddon went all out with a promposal for her grandmother. “I got a crown for her and wrote her a note, asking her to be my date to prom,” Huddon said to WJAR-TV.
On prom night, the family was transported by trolley to the event, where Danis was named honorary prom queen.
97 year-old Helen Danis was named the honorary prom queen at Pilgrim HS’s senior prom last night!! She looked sooo beautiful! Check out her moves @NBC10 pic.twitter.com/xgoyFRw2ad
— Sam Read (@NBC10_Sam) May 25, 2019
She was a dancing queen, kicking it old school with a '60s hully gully line dance, along with more modern dances, such as the Cupid Shuffle and the Cha-Cha Slide, according to CNN.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: At her first prom, a 97-year-old Rhode Island woman wins prom queen
