Ohio teen shares prom with 89-year-old great-grandmother
Instagram/Austin_Dennison
A high school senior in Ohio gave his great-grandmother the prom she never had.
When it came time for Austin Dennison to find a date, he looked no further than his own great-grandmother, 89-year-old Delores Dennison of Hartville, Ohio. He got the idea to ask her to the dance from his government teacher, whose brother had taken their grandmother to prom.
"I asked Grandma if she would be my date to the prom and she said that she would be honored," Austin told Van Wert, Ohio's Times Bulletin. "I told her that it would be my privilege."
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Delores left her West Virginia high school before graduating, and missed her own prom. This time around, she went shopping for a new dress, and her great-grandson surprised her with a necklace. It was a bonding experience for the pair, who don't see each other regularly; they ate at one of her favorite restaurants, Bob Evans, and posed for pictures. Together, they danced to Frank Sinatra's "Dolores," a song that Delores' husband, Edward, used to sing to her.
Austin told the Times Bulletin that he would re-live the night again "in a heartbeat." "I have been blessed with grandparents and great-grandparents that know as much as they do," he said. "They have so many stories to tell. All I have to do is ask." Watch the video below for highlights from the evening, and skip ahead to 6:32 for their sweet slow dance. --Catherine Garcia
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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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