Mary Lapkowicsz often talked about prom despite the fact that she didn’t have a date. But when she was reunited with her friend from elementary school, she had the best surprise of her life.
Mary has down syndrome and was often excluded from doing activities, especially in school. One day in second grade when her class was playing soccer, Ben Moser realized that Mary wasn’t being included in the game. He took it upon himself to stop the entire game and said that Mary needed to score.
He took on the big brother role and watched over her constantly. Their teacher said, “If she was looking like she wasn’t having fun, he would go over and talk to her. He would pull her in to what ever activity they were doing.”
In fourth grade, Ben promised Mary that he would take her to prom when they were old enough. Even Mary’s parents knew about it. Sadly, the two got separated when Mary transferred to a different school district.
By the time they were in high school, they were doing different things. Ben became his school’s quarterback, and Mary became the equipment manager for her school’s football team. As fate would have it, they got reunited when Ben’s team was playing against Mary’s school.
