The story
- Avant Williams, a junior at La Crosse Central High School, arrived at prom this spring with an unconventional date: his grandmother, Svala Heller, who grew up in Iceland where high school proms don't exist.
- Williams made the promise when he was around two years old, after his grandmother told him she had always dreamed of attending an American prom after years of watching it on television.
- "Since I was like a little kid, my grandma's been telling me she wanted to go to prom," Williams told local reporters. "It's her dream, and I just feel like I should make that come true."
- Heller, who has lived in the United States for decades, said she had been holding Williams to the promise for years: "For 14 years he's been saying, 'Yeah, one day I will take you to prom.'"
- Williams' best friend, Ruben Smith, accompanied the pair as an escort, later saying the experience was something he felt privileged to be part of.
- The story spread nationally after being picked up by local Wisconsin stations, with many readers noting it as one of the most straightforward acts of love they'd seen in a long time.
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It means the world to me. I'm just happy I can make her dream come true.
— Avant Williams, La Crosse Central High School
Sources