McKinley High School senior Alexis Gaymon, 17, was in her bedroom, scrolling through her friends' promposals on Facebook, when she got an idea: Alexis would ask her terminally ill mother to prom.
"Well, I know that my mom didn't go to prom," Alexis said.
"So, if anything was to happen to my mom, I want her to live her life to the fullest."
Alexis' mother, Libby Gaymon, was diagnosed with terminal cancer within months of being declared in remission from Stage Three breast cancer. Libby, 42, says her cancer metastasized to her skull, spine, spleen, liver, lungs, hips, pelvis and femur.
Before she pulled off the promposal, Alexis quietly got permission from her McKinley High School principal. Traditionally, graduating seniors are only allowed to bring dates that are under 21 years old.
"When I asked her she said, 'you want to take your mom to prom?' I know she didn't know that she got sick again, so I had to explain that," Alexis said.
Once Alexis got the green light, she organized to bring her whole family and relatives together. She had her cousins stand in single-file holding a signs that, together, read "Mom, would you go to PROM?" Alexis was at the back of the line holding a bouquet of roses.
"I didn't see it coming," Libby said while fighting back tears.
"I hope my mom feels very special, because I love her. It's my mom," Alexis said.
Finding a dress that covers Libby's scars, tumors and chemo port has been a challenge. After weeks of searching, she finally found one she felt confident in.
What makes this prom extra special, is that Libby never went to her original prom. She had her first-born daughter while she was still in high school.
"I want it to be beautiful. I want it to be everything I wanted it to be when I didn't go, too, as well as making it extra special going with my baby girl."
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to support the mother-daughter dates on their journey to prom.
