While her friends picked out dresses and worried about dates, Fatima Faruq chose not to attend her senior prom, putting her energy instead into saving money so the new mom and her infant son could have their own apartment.
That son, Nassir Al-Faruq, is now 18, and wanting to give his mom the experience she missed out on, asked if she wanted to go to prom with him this year. At first, Faruq told The Washington Post, she thought he was just kidding, but with prom fast approaching, he let her know he was "dead serious. I was absolutely honored to go to his prom with him," she said.
Her son told the Post he wanted his mom, now 36, to "enjoy herself and I wanted her to feel young again." Faruq's cousin designs clothes, and she made them matching green prom outfits, while friends did her makeup and took their pictures. Earlier this month, they turned heads when they arrived at the Crystal Tea Room in downtown Philadelphia for Cardinal O'Hara High School's prom. Nassir said his friends came up to him and said they looked "dope" and were "celebrities," and they enjoyed dancing and hanging out with Nassir's friends. "My mom is a cool person," he said. "She can make you laugh."