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High school senior takes great-grandmother to prom

TORONTO – An Ohio high school student may have won the hearts of some of his fellow classmates after he took his great-grandmother to his prom.

Delores Dennison, 89, said she never went to prom because times were tough and her family did not have a lot of money.

Dennison said she received a phone call several months ago from her 19-year-old great-grandson Austin, who said he had a very important question.

“He said, ‘Grandma, I want you to go to the prom with me,'” said Dennison in an interview with the Times Bulletin. “I had a bad heart attack and stroke. ‘I’m not that good on my feet,’ I told him.”

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But, Dennison agreed to go.

Austin, who plays for his school’s football, baseball and basketball teams, said he has been blessed with grandparents and great-grandparents that know as much as they do.

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“They have a great influence on my life,” he said. “To be able to sit down and talk to them and learn from them and their experiences is a great thing.”

Dennison said finding “the perfect dress” was quite the adventure.

“We were looking at the young girls dresses,” she said. “None of those dresses would be OK for me. They were either too high or too low and I didn’t want any of that.”

Dennison said she eventually settled on “a pretty blue dress and a clutch purse.”

On the night of the prom, the pair was introduced and received a standing ovation from staff and students. Dennison, according to Austin, even received a request to dance from another student.

“He tried to cut in,” he said. “He asked for a dance, but she didn’t have the energy.”

Delores said the highlight of her night with her great-grandson was when Frank Sinatra’s song, “How I Love the Kisses of Delores,” was played. The tune was one that Delores’ husband, now deceased, used to sing to her.

“We shared that dance,” said Austin. “It was really sweet.”

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