{"id":1573,"date":"2026-08-14T18:44:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T18:44:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dishdaily.delicedcook.com\/?p=1573"},"modified":"2026-08-14T18:44:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T18:44:46","slug":"at-6-i-promised-my-best-friend-with-down-syndrome-wed-go-to-prom-together-12-years-later-mom-said-i-could-go-with-him-only-on-one-condition-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dishdaily.delicedcook.com\/?p=1573","title":{"rendered":"At 6, I Promised My Best Friend with Down Syndrome We\u2019d Go to Prom Together \u2013 12 Years Later, Mom Said I Could Go with Him Only on One Condition"},"content":{"rendered":"

When I was six, I pinkie-promised my best friend that we\u2019d go to prom together someday. Twelve years later, he arrived at my door holding my corsage. I was ready to leave when Mom pulled me upstairs, locked the door, and said I could go with him only after hearing the truth she\u2019d hidden for years.<\/h1>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

My mother locked my bedroom door on prom night.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

That was the moment I knew something was wrong.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

I knew something was wrong.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Downstairs, Noah was waiting for me in a navy suit and the bow tie he\u2019d been talking about since November.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I could hear him chatting with my aunt through the floor.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Then Mom turned toward me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cYou can go with Noah tonight, Chrissy. But only on one condition. I need one promise from you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cBut only on one condition.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

I stared at her.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cI know. That\u2019s generally how dates work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cI\u2019m serious.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Her voice sounded strange.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cOkay\u2026\u201d I actually laughed. \u201cLet me guess. Midnight?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cEleven-thirty?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cChristina.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The fact that she used my full name wiped the smile off my face.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Mom\u2019s hands were trembling.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Her voice sounded strange.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

\u201cYou have to hear something first.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cAbout what, Mom?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Her eyes flicked toward the closed bedroom door.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cAbout Noah.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

My heart pounded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cWhat about him?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cAnd about me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

She sat on the edge of my bed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cWhat about him?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Then she said something I never expected.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cI owe both of you the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah and I met because of raisins.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

We were six.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Our first-grade teacher had given everyone those little red boxes during snack time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I was quietly stuffing mine beneath a napkin when the boy beside me whispered, \u201cThat\u2019s smart.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cI owe both of you the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I looked over.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He was doing exactly the same thing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cYou hate them?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cThey\u2019re old grapes.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

I considered this.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cThey are.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cOld grapes are gross,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

That settled it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

By lunch, we were best friends.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Then dinosaurs helped.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

By lunch, we were best friends.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah knew an unreasonable amount about dinosaurs and had strong opinions about which one would win in a fight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I drew them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Badly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The first time I showed him my Tyrannosaurus rex, he stared at the page for several seconds.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

\u201cWhat is\u2026 that? It looks like a potato with arms!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201d It looks like a potato with arms!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I shoved him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

He laughed so loudly our teacher separated us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah had Down syndrome.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

At six, that mattered to me considerably less than the fact that he cheated at dinosaur trivia by memorizing the answers before asking me the questions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Our friendship was simple.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Until another kid made it complicated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Noah had Down syndrome.<\/p>\n

\n

***<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

One afternoon, our teacher announced she was getting married.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The class exploded.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Everyone had opinions.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Chocolate cake.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Vanilla cake.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Flowers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Music.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Somebody insisted a wedding needed a trampoline.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah raised his hand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cMy wedding will have chocolate cake.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Our teacher smiled.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cExcellent choice, Noah.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cMy wedding will have chocolate cake.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

\u201cAnd no slow songs, Miss Veronica.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cThey\u2019re boring.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A boy across our table snorted.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not getting married, dude.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Noah looked at him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cYes, I am.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cTo who?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The boy laughed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cNobody\u2019s going to marry you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

I remember the exact second Noah\u2019s smile disappeared.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cNobody\u2019s going to marry you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

He looked down at his hands.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Something hot rose in my chest.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cThat\u2019s mean, Roger.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

The boy turned toward me.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cSomebody will love Noah.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cThen you marry him.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

A wave of giggles rippled through the classroom.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\u201cThat\u2019s enough, boys and girls,\u201d the teacher said, silencing the room.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cSomebody will love Noah.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When I was six, I pinkie-promised my best friend that we\u2019d go to prom together someday. Twelve years later, he…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1574,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dishdaily.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dishdaily.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dishdaily.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dishdaily.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dishdaily.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1573"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dishdaily.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1575,"href":"https:\/\/dishdaily.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1573\/revisions\/1575"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dishdaily.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1574"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dishdaily.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dishdaily.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dishdaily.delicedcook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}