Two decades ago, when it came time for Belinda Hunt-Smith to go to prom, she couldn't attend.
Her story isn't unusual. After all, this grandpa didn't get to go to prom until he was 80!
She was asked by several suitors and kindly turned each one of them down. Her classmates wanted to know why she couldn't attend the high school milestone, so she lied and made excuses.
The real reason was that when Belinda was 11, her mother died of leukemia. Her father, unable to provide for her and her siblings, sent them off to live with their grandmother.
Belinda felt like she was on her own with her new family unit struggling to make ends meet.
"It didn't change my way of thinking, because I wanted to make my momma proud of me," Belinda said.
"She told me before she died, 'You are my strongest kid.' And I never understood it until now, but everything I went through, I came out of."
When it came time for prom, she simply couldn't afford to get a dress and pay her dues. The track star athlete stayed home instead.
"It tore me up inside, because I really wanted to go. I think I cried every night up until prom," Belinda said.
"I didn't want people to know that I was in a bad situation," she told the Huffington Post. "I [told myself] 'If I ever have kids I'll make sure they can go.' "
Twenty years later, Belinda is going to prom with one special date on her arm.
Watch the video below to find the special high-school senior that's taking her!
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