A military stepdad recreated prom at home for his stepdaughter who was left devastated at missing her senior year events because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the emotional footage, Savannah Escobedo, 17, comes downstairs at her family home dressed in her prom dress, after her mom Melissa Trujillo, 43, asked her to pose for a photo.
But little did Savannah know that Melissa and her husband Nathan, 45, a member of the New Mexico Army National Guard, had a surprise in store.
Outside the front door, Nathan stood in his military attire holding a bouquet of flowers ready for a special evening, in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Days earlier, Savannah had been in tears as she discovered she would be missing not only her final-year cheerleading competition but also what would have been her senior prom because of COVID-19 precautions.
Having been in tears herself at her daughter’s reaction, Melissa decided to put the prom dress she had purchased to good use, arranging a surprise prom at home with Nathan.
She told Savannah she would still like photos of her daughter in her dress, and after being surprised by her stepdad, the family danced the night away at home.
In order to prepare, Nathan headed around town to source roses and also picked up the Volcano Vista High School senior’s favorite food from a seafood restaurant, Pelicans.
Nathan, who has served for 27 years, did all this after working a 10-hour day, but, Melissa joked, you could not tell how exhausted he was by his dance moves.
She said “We all cried tears of joy, it was so special – this will be something for us to cherish for the rest of our lives.
“As a parent the hardest thing to experience is to watch your child’s heartbreak over and over and there is nothing you can do to ease the pain.
“I posted it online so I would always be reminded of the night, but people started sharing and we couldn’t keep up with the response from social media.
“It’s been unbelievable to see how our personal memory touched so many people.”
Story courtesy of T&T Creative Media