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Northeast Philadelphia family holds prom for daughter in living room

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Updated  May 15, 2020 6:48pm EDT
Coronavirus
FOX 29 Philadelphia

Northeast Philadelphia family throws a prom at home for their senior

Northeast Philadelphia family throws a prom at home for their senior after coronavirus cancels their school's prom. FOX 29's Joann Pileggi reports.

NORTHEAST PHILADELPHIA - For many high school students, missing the rest of the school year because of the coronavirus pandemic is something they did not expect. This rings especially true for the graduating seniors of the Class of 2020, including the seniors at St. Hubert’s Catholic High School for Girls.

This year, these girls are missing one of the biggest events, their senior proms. For the Madden family, they wanted to make Molly’s senior prom something to remember.

“It’s one of those things I feel bad for the seniors. Molly is our senior so we had to step up as a family,” said Molly’s father, Jimmy.

“The idea popped into my head, I thought we should do a little prom for her,” added Molly’s mother, Maureen.

Pulling off a makeshift prom required keeping secrets for this family of six from Northeast Philadelphia.

“We didn’t tell the little boys at first. We kept them out of it because Jack Henry would tell Molly in a heartbeat,” said Molly’s brother Seamus.“They held out signs and we’re like let’s do a prom. We wanna get dressed up, dance with you and it was so overwhelming,” explained Molly through tears.

While Molly realizes the severity of the pandemic, she wonders why this year and why they couldn’t have their graduation and their prom. What Molly’s family did, she says made up for her disappointment.

“I just told them I love them and how lucky I am that they surprised me over the top with doing this.”

Their living room became their dance floor. Her three dates were perfect and the prep work took a little longer than expected but was worth it.“I laughed, I ironed for an hour for a fake prom. I hung up their clothes, showered, put them on it, it was simple,” said Maureen.

“I was excited to do it. I didn’t complain when Mom asked me to do it,” said Molly’s brother Dean.

That’s family for you, stepping up to make Molly’s end of her high school career and her senior year as good as possible.

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