When everybody refuses to dance with his granddaughter with cerebral palsy, a grandfather dresses up as a cowboy and attends her prom. Teens mock him, only to regret it after he takes the mic and addresses the girl.
Grandpa Drew was so delighted that day. Of course, why wouldn’t he be? He’d bought three new Clint Eastwood movie DVDs for a steal to surprise his granddaughter, Rosie.
17-year-old Rosie was crazy about cowboy movies and culture, and Clint Eastwood was her favorite star. All that on-screen action, noise, music, and drama were some of the only things that made her giggle and forget her sorrows.
After Rosie lost her parents in a plane crash when she was five, her grandpa Drew took her in and raised her. Even when his friends and neighbors said, “Drew, you will have difficulty raising a child with cerebral palsy alone,” he frowned and ignored them.
According to him, Rosie was just a normal child who deserved a ‘normal’ life. He was ready to do anything for Rosie, even if it meant cutting down some of his expenses to buy new DVDs for her like he did that day.
But to Drew’s surprise, Rosie was upset. She didn’t chuckle or throw those excited eyes at him after seeing the DVDs. Drew knew something was wrong because she had never acted like that before…
“Sweetie, is everything okay? Look, I got you new DVDs,” Drew told Rosie on their drive home from her school.
After a momentous silence, Rosie shakily took her communication device and began tapping.
“I-am-sad-I-want-to-go-home,” the device read out loud.
Drew smirked. “Alright?! But why are you sad? What happened? Did someone bully you?” he asked, conveying it through gestures simultaneously.
Suddenly, Rosie began to cry, and it took Drew a lot of time to console her before she started tapping on the device again.
“Father-daughter-dance-in-school-prom-I-have-nobody-to-dance-with-the-boys-said-they-do-not-want-to-dance-with-me,” the device read out again. Drew was upset, and he couldn’t stand seeing Rosie sad.
Do not judge a person. You may know their name but not their story.
“Oh, alright!” he exclaimed and sat back to continue driving because he had a brilliant plan brewing in his mind.
That evening, after feeding Rosie dinner and putting her to sleep, Drew busied himself on the internet. He was not used to surfing and sought a lot of help from his friends on how to use the internet and search for things online.
“Finally, C-L-I-N-T,” he spelled out as he searched for Clint Eastwood online. Drew was trying to derive the iconic celebrity’s contact details. He wanted to surprise Rosie by inviting Clint Eastwood to dance with her at the prom.
“She loves cowboy culture and will love my surprise if Clint Eastwood takes her to the prom!”
Unfortunately, Drew’s plan failed. It took him a lot of convincing from his friends and neighbors that Clint Eastwood was no ordinary man but a famous Hollywood celebrity who’d be impossible to invite. Finally, a naive Drew understood them. He was disappointed but was still determined to make Rosie happy.
Drew then took all his savings and hurried to the antique store to shop for a cowboy suit. He had planned on dressing up as a cowboy to surprise Rosie at the prom.
“Shall I pack the suit?” the sales assistant asked Drew.
“Yes, please!”
Drew spent the money he’d saved for a week’s worth of groceries. He knew he had to work hard on his field the entire next week to be able to sell fresh potatoes in the market. But that didn’t matter to him. He was ready to pay any price to see his granddaughter happy.
On the day of the prom, Drew dressed up as a cowboy and looked at himself in the mirror at least over twenty times to make sure he looked cowboy enough to please Rosie.
“Fellas! What do ya think??!” he asked his old buddies, who were waiting outside to see him in the cowboy suit. They laughed and praised him for taking such a big step for his granddaughter.
Drew drove to Rosie’s school in his old truck and pulled over at the school gate. A screeching roar of the engine drew everyone’s attention, and Drew jumped out like a classic hero. Parents and students were shocked and started mumbling as Drew marched past them.
“Hey, look! An old cowboy in our school. Yuk! Yuk!” Boys and girls laughed at poor Drew.
“Dude, I thought it was prom tonight. Not a circus…yuk! yuk!”
Drew searched for his granddaughter and saw her at the doorway of the dance hall. She looked upset because everyone was laughing at her grandpa.
Drew had gone there to see that golden smile on her face but seeing her sad and on the verge of crying pained him. He immediately grabbed the mic and tapped it, and the hall turned silent. The giggling and teasing stopped, and everyone turned to listen.
“Darling, Rosie, your parents must be watching you from heaven, and it will break their hearts to see you sad. And it rips my heart that you would even feel you don’t have a dancing partner tonight when you have me, sweetheart. Please come here. Let’s dance!”
Everyone gaped in awe as a staff pushed Rosie’s wheelchair toward Drew.
“And MUSIC!” he shouted, and the DJ played a song. Jazz music filled the dance floor as Drew danced around Rosie in circles, holding her hand as she giggled and laughed in joy.
Students, parents, and teachers circled the two as they danced, forgetting about the world and the sadness it brought them. The heartwarming sight brought tears to everyone’s eyes. Soon, everyone was on the dance floor, and laughter echoed in the air.
After the celebration, the teens and their parents flocked around Drew and Rosie, begging for their apology.
“We’re sorry, Mr. Drew. We’re ashamed of ourselves. We’re sorry for laughing at you without knowing your genuine motive. Please forgive us.”
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“I would do anything to make my granddaughter happy, even if it would make me a clown in the world’s eyes!” Drew joked. Rosie laughed, and he had never seen the girl so happy before. Then she began tapping on her device.
“Thank-you-grandpa-I-love-you-so-much-more-than-cowboys-and-Clint-Eastwood!” the device read out loud.
What can we learn from this story?
Do not judge a person. You may know their name but not their story. When the teens at the prom saw Drew dressed as a cowboy, they laughed at him and passed hurtful comments without knowing why he had done it.
No magic can make a dream into reality. It takes love, determination, and hard work. Even when his friends and neighbors told him it would be difficult to raise his granddaughter with cerebral palsy, Drew ignored them. He was determined to give Rosie a normal life because he loved her and was ready to do anything for her.
Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.
A boy invites a music band to his grandmother’s birthday and makes her cry when she recognizes the voice of a singer who still haunts her. Click here to read the full story.
This piece is inspired by stories from the everyday lives of our readers and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only.