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Rhode Island woman, 97, attends first prom, is crowned honorary queen

A 97-year-old woman realized a lifelong dream when she attended a senior prom Friday night.

WEST WARWICK, R.I. — Times were tough during the Great Depression, so Helen Danis never attended her senior prom 80 years ago. Friday night, the 97-year-old Rhode Island resident was able to enjoy that high school milestone and danced the night away.

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Danis' granddaughter, Julie Huddon, got permission to bring Danis to Pilgrim High School's prom at Rhodes on the Pawtuxet in Cranston, WJAR reported.

"She was telling me about the prom, how she couldn't go because she couldn't afford it," Huddon, 48, told NBC News.

Huddon's son, Evan Huddon, is a senior at Pilgrim High School in Warwick. Julie Huddon got permission from Principal Gerald Habershaw, and then approached her grandmother, NBC News reported.

"I went over with a crown, made a note, and asked her if she would go to prom with me," Julie Huddon told NBC News. "She was all excited."

Danis said she took a trolley to the dance, WJAR reported. Once she got there, Danis was no wallflower. She took to the floor and danced the "Hully Gully," "Cupid Shuffle," and "Cha-Cha Slide" with the Pilgrim High students, the television station reported.

To top off her night, Danis was named Pilgrim High School's honorary prom queen, WJAR reported.

Attending the prom took 80 years, but it was worth the wait.

"Being so much different in age, and yet to be able to correspond together and make an evening of it, it was nice," Danis told NBC News. "My favorite part was being there with all the kids, and having such a good time."