There is a slew of exciting high school events, from Friday night football games to pep rallies.
But probably one that many young girls look forward to most is prom.
When you reach a certain age, you stop believing in fairy tales and prince charming.
However, that doesn’t mean it’s not still exciting to dress up and dance with your date, in your first taste of adulthood.
Sadly, prom doesn’t always live up to expectations for some people.
Take Isabelle Knowlton, for example, who was let down at the last minute by a date that canceled on her.
We all know how crushing it can feel to have someone disappoint you, but for Isabelle’s mom, it was even more devastating.
Isabelle uses a wheelchair and is mostly non-verbal – so quickly arranging another date wasn’t possible.
It was down to Isabelle’s mom, Syndi, to act on her daughter’s behalf and try and secure her a date at the last minute.
She made a short Facebook post, accompanied by a photo of the prom flyer and a beautiful picture of Isabelle. The post read:
“My sweet daughter Isabelle is 16 and wheelchair bound. We have been talking about prom and her date can’t go now. Are there any young men that might want to attend the special needs prom with this gorgeous girl?”
Perhaps Syndi hadn’t been expecting much of a response – but she was wrong.
In fact, Syndi’s post received so much instant attention that she ended up being overwhelmed with prospective dates!
Syndi updated her post to say she was “so so overwhelmed and in tears with the love being shared with my cutie”.
She also hinted that she’d found the “perfect date” for her daughter”.
In the comments, she mentioned that six guys had already come forward to take Isabelle to prom.
In the end, the boy who Syndi chose for her daughter was Carson Preece.
Carson’s proud mom, Trina, explained what had led up to Carson and Isabelle’s big day on Facebook, writing:
“THIS BOY! A couple weeks ago, I was teary, Carson came in and asked what was wrong. I read him a Facebook post about a mother of a 16 yr old girl with special needs, looking for a date for her daughter to go to her school prom. He said, “Mom, I will do it!”.”
And he followed through with his word, arranging to meet Isabelle the day before prom to help decorate her room.
The sweet photographs of the pair are enough to make any parent proud.
The pair had a great night, and Isabelle was crowned Dutchess. After, Isabelle and Carson watched cartoons together in Isabelle’s room.
Trina was there to witness every special moment, and recalled:
“Izzie is a darling girl, non-verbal, wheelchair bound, on a feeding tube and mostly uncommunicative. However, there were a few times when her eyes met Carson’s and she lit up like the 4th of July… and, well, so did he!”
It’s a humble mom brag – but wouldn’t you do the same if you were Trina?
Syndi was keen to share the favors that other members of the local community had offered, explaining that one person purchased the tickets while another took care of hair and makeup, and a third purchased flowers.
We don’t often hear stories of communities rallying together anymore, which makes this one all the more lovely!