The last year with Caleb has been very difficult. There haven’t been a lot of smiles. There’s been a lot of tears, yelling, and screaming. But, last night, I saw more smiles on his face than I have seen in a long time, and it was all thanks to Night to Shine and the Tim Tebow Foundation!
I have wanted Caleb to be able to participate in this program since I have heard about it, but as with anything, Tony and I just never know how he is going to do. To say he had a blast would be an understatement!!!!!
The program is a prom for special needs individuals aged 14 and older held sometime close to Valentine’s Day. Each individual is paired with a buddy for the evening. They are individually announced upon arrival and everyone claps as they walk across the red carpet. Our event had the Air Force (I think it was the Jr. ROTC program) honor guard there for them to walk under the sword arch. I wasn’t sure how Caleb would do with that, but he did AWESOME!
Once Caleb was announced, he met his buddy, Alan and received his boutinere.
Caleb especially loved being being crowned King of the prom.
At that time, there was a special video announcement from Tim Tebow.
Caleb danced the night away, w hile I stayed in the parent room and played Bingo. It had been so long since I had done that. I even won the first gave and got a $10 gift card to Wendy’s!!!!!
Caleb’s buddy told me that at one point he was dancing with five girls at one time! What a ladies man!!!!!!
I can’t say enough about this program. They treat each individually like the royalty that they are. So much work goes into putting this program on, but you can tell that everyone involved had a good time!
If you have a teen or adult with special needs, I highly encourage you to look into this program next year! Caleb will definitely be going back!!!!!
Thank you, Tim Tebow for your vision and your heart for the special needs community!!!!!
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