Michigan Teen Invites Mom to Prom After Learning Why She Missed Her Own (ABC News)

Belinda Smith said she was completely shocked when her 18-year-old son Danotiss asked her to be his senior prom date, after learning the sad reason behind why she missed her own 24 prom years ago.

"I was flattered," Smith of Pontiac, Michigan, said. "I asked him, 'You don’t want to ask someone else? 'You don’t have a special friend, someone cool that you can have fun with?' I'm still elated. I'm just so happy that he wanted to share his day with me."

Smith told ABC News that she missed her own senior prom back in 1991 after her mother died, leaving she and her siblings in a dire financial state.



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"I wasn’t able to attend," she said. "It goes back to when my mother passed in '85 and our whole life basically changed overnight. I remember my sister going to prom and I couldn’t wait to go. I was asked to the prom but we didn’t have the money. I didn’t want my friends to know I didn’t have the funds, so I just acted like I didn't want to go.

"Every day after school leading up to prom I cried," she added. "I just wanted to go so bad. From there, I said 'When I have kids, my kids are going to prom.' I wanted them to have what I didn’t have."

Danotiss, who knew of his mother's heartbreaking story, asked her to accompany him to the senior prom as his date about a month ago.

"I just felt like it was right to ask her cause she couldn’t go to her prom," he said. "She couldn’t afford it back then so I thought it would be pretty sweet to ask her.

"Some of my friends thought it was pretty cool that I'm taking my mom. Some said it's kind of weird," he said with a laugh.

Prior to the promposal, Danotiss asked his principal Jeffrey Frankowiak for permission to bring mom.

"It's definitely commendable," Frankowiak said. "I got the opportunity to sit with his family in the football stands and they are just so proud of this boy. Senior prom is a big deal to the kids and it was a heartwarming gesture motivated by positive thoughts."

The Waterford Kettering High School senior prom will be held at a local catering hall Friday, with 350 students in attendance.

Smith chose an orange dress for the event and Danotiss said he will present his mom with a white corsage.

"I just want her to enjoy it," he said. "I want her to get that experience and have some fun."