A high school quarterback fulfills a childhood promise to take a friend with Down Syndrome to prom.
Mary Lapkowitz, 17, had been looking forward to prom ever since she set a date for her friend, Ben Moser, in the senior year.
Seven years later, the two kept their party promise and paired up for her milestone dance on May 8 at the Radisson in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania.
“He made good on that promise,” Mr. Lapkowitz’s brother, Tom Lapkowitz, wrote on Facebook.
“And in the process, put a smile on Mary’s face.” [and] It restored my faith in humanity.”
Even as a primary school student, the teenager, who has Down Syndrome, knew that Moser was an honorable man.
“He was a sweet, good guy,” she told The Patriot-News of Central Pennsylvania, while Moser said of Lapkowitz, “He was really cool. He was sweet, easy to get along with.”
But the two were separated in sixth grade when Lapkowitz transferred to the Central Dauphin School District and Moser remained in the Harrisburg School District.
They met again last year at a football game between their schools — Lapkowitz is the equipment manager for the team and Moser is the quarterback for Susquehanna Township High School — and the reunion reminded Moser of a vow he and Lapkowitz made more than five years ago.
Ben Moser asked Mary Lapkowitz to prom with pink balloons. Source: Facebook.
“Many elementary school kids might have shunned my sister…or thought she was weird because she had Down Syndrome,” Tom Lapkowitz wrote. “But not Ben. He always cared about her.”
And he dotes on her to this day, and Moser’s prom proposal was a real lift-off for her.
“We bought balloons and wrote ‘Prom’ on them,” Moser told The Patriot-News. “I gave her the balloons and asked her to go to prom with me.”
“It was a surprise. I was planning on going with friends,” an excited Lapkowitz admitted.
Seven years after Ben Moser and his friend Mary Lapkowitz vowed to go to prom together, they made good on that vow. Source: Facebook.
Moser’s mother, Lisa Trautman Moser, described their friendship as a beautiful story and was equally moved by the thoughtful invitation.
She posted photos from the dance on Facebook, writing, “Today was probably the proudest day I’ve ever had since my son was born.”
“He accomplished so much on the football field, on the baseball field, in the classroom and in life. He grew into a man with a big heart, a deep sense of putting others first and, above all, making people feel special and loved.”
Morning News Flash – May 15th