Often promises outrun action but for one high school quarterback this certainly was not the case.
When teenager Ben Moser was in the fourth grade he told his mother that when he got older he would ask his pal Mary to the prom with him.
Mary Lapkowicz, who has Down syndrome, was Ben’s primary school friend and according to a heartfelt story on PennLive.com, Ben and Mary had shared very special relationship.
“He watched over her constantly,” the pair’s fourth grade teacher Tracey Spogli told the local news last week. “If she was looking like she wasn’t having fun, he would go over and talk to her. He would pull her in to whatever activity they were doing. He just always watched out for her.”
According to Ben, Mary was the bee’s knees.
“I thought Mary was really cool,” said Ben. “She was sweet and easy to get along with.”
And Mary told the reporter Ben “was sweet and he was nice.”
In the sixth grade the friends were separated as Mary moved to a new school but Ben never forgot the promise he made her.
When Mary’s high school Central Dauphin played Ben’s Susquehanna Township High School in football last year the pair’s paths crossed again and Ben was quick to remember his childhood vow.
On Friday the 17-year-olds attended Moser’s prom together.
In a video filmed by local outlet Penn Live, Ben said that Down syndrome should never be a “barrier” to make friends with people.
“You should just be who you are, and do what’s right. Simple,” he said.
Video: Leila McKinnon about fitness and wellbeing.
