If there were actually a Great-Grandson of the Year Award, 19-year-old Austin Dennison would definitely win it for 2014. His great-grandmother Delores, who is 89 years old, didn’t get to go to her high school prom; at the time, money was too tight for anything but the necessities. But 70 years later, she finally got the chance to take a turn round the dance floor, courtesy of Austin, who stepped up and took her as his date to his senior prom. All together now: Awwwwww!
Austin, a senior at Parkway High School in Rockford, OH, called his great-grandmother up a few months ago with an incredibly important question: Will you go to prom with me? “He was so sweet and adamant about it,” Delores told Fox News. “I asked him, ‘But are you sure that you wouldn’t like to take one of the young ladies who could get out there and do everything with you?’ He said no. ‘I want you.’” Austin added, “At first she was a bit resistant. I assured her I was serious and she finally said yes. It was my privilege to take her.”
According to the Times Bulletin, they started off the evening with dinner at one of Delores’ favorite eateries (a Bob Evans, for the curious — he had pancakes, she had an omelet) before heading to Parkway High for the big dance. Her dress was blue; her corsage, roses. Austin even surprised her with pearl necklace. They posed for photos, she whacked a few balloons out of the way with her cane, and — of course — they danced. Their song of choice? The Frank Sinatra number “I Love the Kisses of Delores,” a tune Delores’ husband, Edward, used to sing to her.
“I’ve been blessed with grandparents and great-grandparents that know as much as they do,” Austin, who is headed to Florida Gulf Coast University post-graduation, said to the Times Bulletin. “They have so many stories to tell. All I have to do is ask.” YOU GUYS THAT IS SO CUTE I CAN BARELY STAND IT. Seriously. Does anyone else just want to take him and put him in their pocket? Both he and Delores are my new favorite people.
One more for the road: Awwwwww!
Image: Instagram / austin_dennison
