High School Quarterback Takes Who To The Prom?

Having friends with children with Down's Syndrome, I have often heard the lament of parents who wish that people would just recognize that their kids are just as special and yet just as ordinary as every other child.

Reading this article, my heart says, “Yes! This is great! She is so beautiful, and he is so courageous!” (High-schoolers can be mean, y'all!)

Seven years ago, Ben Moser made a promise to his friend Mary Lapkowicz, a girl with Down's Syndrome, that they would go to prom together.

“He made good on that promise,” Lapkowicz’s brother, Tom Lapkowicz, writes on Facebook. “And in the process put a smile on Mary’s face [and] restored my faith in humanity.”

Even back in elementary school, the teen, who has Down Syndrome, knew Moser was a standup guy. “He was sweet and he was nice,” she told the Patriot-News of Central Pennsylvania. Moser, for his part, said that Lapkowicz was “really cool. She was sweet and easy to get along with.”

“A lot of grade-school aged kids may have stayed away from my sister…or thought she was weird because she has Downs Syndrome (sic),” writes Tom Lapkowicz. “But not Ben. He always looked out for her.”

Their friendship separated for a while, when Mary transferred schools in the 6th grade. Reuniting at a football game in high school, Ben remembered his promise.

And get a load of how he invited her! (Was your prom invite this good?)

“We got balloons and I wrote ‘prom’ on it,“ Moser told the Patriot-News. “I presented her with the balloons and asked her to go to prom with me.” A thrilled Lapkowicz admits, “I was surprised. I was going to go with some friends.”

This seems like a better deal to me!!

Moser’s mom was equally floored by the thoughtful invitation. Sharing photos from the day of the dance, Lisa Troutman Moser writes on Facebook, “Today was probably the proudest I have ever been of my son in his lifetime to date,” she writes. “He has accomplished many things on the football field, on the baseball field, in the classroom, and just in his life. 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.”

Wow! I don't even know this kid, but I am danged proud!

For the full article, as well as pictures of the happy couple, go to yahoo.com. You're going to love it!

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