1 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:09,000 Speaker 1: Hello, friends, Welcome to Story Behind podcast. This is the 2 00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:12,200 Speaker 1: show for people who love hearing a good story and 3 00:00:12,240 --> 00:00:15,720 Speaker 1: who believe the world could use more positivity. We're the 4 00:00:15,720 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: team behind God Updates and God Too, and we hope 5 00:00:18,960 --> 00:00:22,919 Speaker 1: these weekly short stories will brighten your day. 6 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 2: His grandma never got to go to prom, so this 7 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 2: young man took her to his. Written by Heather Rigglemann, 8 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:34,519 Speaker 2: read by Jolly Provost. His grandma never got to go 9 00:00:34,560 --> 00:00:36,320 Speaker 2: to prom, so this young man took her to his. 10 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 2: We all remember a prom so fondly. It was a 11 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 2: moment of being all grown up. In a fancy Yanner text, 12 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:43,880 Speaker 2: I still remember my first prom. The curling iron burns 13 00:00:43,880 --> 00:00:46,440 Speaker 2: on the bathroom counter, the nervous excitement of getting ready 14 00:00:46,440 --> 00:00:48,920 Speaker 2: with girlfriends, the way the dress felt too fancy hanging 15 00:00:48,960 --> 00:00:51,520 Speaker 2: in my small town bedroom. The awkward photos. We still 16 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 2: treasure anyway, because somehow those snapshots captured more than just 17 00:00:55,160 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 2: dresses and tuxedos. They captured becoming that thunderspace between childhood 18 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 2: and adults where everything feels wide open, im possible. Prom 19 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:05,959 Speaker 2: feels monumental when you're young, but this young kid embraces 20 00:01:06,000 --> 00:01:08,400 Speaker 2: took it one step further. Not only did he mark 21 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:12,560 Speaker 2: his grand grown up entrance into the world in La Crosse, Wisconsin, 22 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 2: but he brought his grandmother and made her dreams come true. 23 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:19,440 Speaker 2: Junior high student An't Williams fulfilled a promise he made 24 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:23,160 Speaker 2: as a toddler by taking his grandma, Selva Heller to prom. 25 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:25,920 Speaker 2: Since I was a little girl, my grandma's been telling 26 00:01:25,959 --> 00:01:28,520 Speaker 2: me she wanted to go to prom. Advent shared, it's 27 00:01:28,560 --> 00:01:30,880 Speaker 2: her dream. Why does she want to go to prom? Well, 28 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:32,920 Speaker 2: she had grown up in Iceland, where proms were not 29 00:01:32,959 --> 00:01:35,199 Speaker 2: really part of the culture, So for years she watched 30 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:38,160 Speaker 2: American movies and television from Afar, quietly carrying this little 31 00:01:38,200 --> 00:01:40,280 Speaker 2: dream in her heart. I always wanted to go to 32 00:01:40,319 --> 00:01:43,280 Speaker 2: a prom, she said, watching American TV and all that 33 00:01:43,319 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 2: glamor that goes with it. She dreamed of a night 34 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 2: and glamour and all the things we experience in our 35 00:01:47,680 --> 00:01:51,120 Speaker 2: own coming of age stories, and her sweet, precious grand 36 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 2: baby boy remembered fourteen years later when the big night came. 37 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:57,080 Speaker 2: He made it happen. In a world where people forget 38 00:01:57,080 --> 00:02:00,200 Speaker 2: birthdays because Facebook didn't remind them, this teenager held on 39 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:02,200 Speaker 2: to a promise he made when he was barely at 40 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,080 Speaker 2: a diverse. That alone says something beautiful about the kind 41 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 2: of young man he is. So when prom night finally arrived, 42 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 2: the two pose her photos together alongside Avon's friends before 43 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:14,120 Speaker 2: heading to the dance. She was dressed in a beautiful 44 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:17,400 Speaker 2: black dress holding a pink array of delicate flowers, and honestly, 45 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,720 Speaker 2: I can already picture Slava smoothing down her dress, teary eyed, 46 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 2: trying not to cry through her makeup while her grandson 47 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:25,720 Speaker 2: came to pick her up. She said, it's so special. 48 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:27,880 Speaker 2: We have such a special bond. You can feel the 49 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:30,519 Speaker 2: love in every word. And because the story somehow keeps 50 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,920 Speaker 2: getting sweeter. Advant's best friend, Reuben Smith, also escorted her 51 00:02:33,919 --> 00:02:35,919 Speaker 2: to the dance. No one gets to take their best 52 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 2: friend's grandma to prom. He said, It's special. These boys 53 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 2: may not fully realize it yet, but decades from now, 54 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 2: this is the night they'll still talk about. The world 55 00:02:44,040 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 2: desperately needs more young people who wanted the people who 56 00:02:46,360 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 2: helped raise them. Advant's words about taking its grandma made 57 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 2: me misty eyed. Avan said, it means the world to me, 58 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:54,040 Speaker 2: Like I love my grandma. She's been there for me 59 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 2: my whole life. I'm just happy I can make her 60 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,160 Speaker 2: dream come true. And somewhere between the carsages and camera 61 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 2: flashes and probably overpriced prompt tickets, a grandmother got to 62 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:05,959 Speaker 2: experience a dream she carried for years. Honestly, that feels 63 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 2: far more magical than any Hollywood PROMI scene. Children's children 64 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:11,840 Speaker 2: are a crown to the aged, and parents are the 65 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:29,560 Speaker 2: pride of their children. Proverbs seventeen six. A man took 66 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:31,760 Speaker 2: the stage at graduation and then announced he was paying 67 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 2: off student loans. Written by Heather Rigglemann, read by Julie Probost. 68 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,160 Speaker 2: A man took the stage at graduation. Then he announced 69 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:40,360 Speaker 2: he was paying off student moans. I'm in my forties 70 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:43,160 Speaker 2: and still carrying student loan debt like it overstepped back 71 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 2: back and never asked to wear And if I can 72 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:47,280 Speaker 2: help it, my kids will never know that kind of 73 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 2: fear that comes with opening a bill and wondering how 74 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 2: many more years of your life belonged to interest rates 75 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:54,400 Speaker 2: and payments instead of dreams. The gratitude and bussings you'll 76 00:03:54,400 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 2: feel will leave you in all. That's why this story 77 00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:59,640 Speaker 2: hit me, because of how a big of a heart 78 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:02,280 Speaker 2: one man has, and I hope that there are many 79 00:04:02,320 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 2: more stories like this that make headlines. At the graduation 80 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:09,119 Speaker 2: ceremony for the North Carolina State University Wilson College of Textiles, 81 00:04:09,480 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 2: students thought they were simply walking across the stage to 82 00:04:11,680 --> 00:04:14,920 Speaker 2: receive a diploma. Hardworking man by the name of anneal 83 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 2: Kachar stepped up to the microphone and changed lives with 84 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:21,039 Speaker 2: a few simple words and a deep pocket. My wife 85 00:04:21,040 --> 00:04:23,800 Speaker 2: Marilyn and I are providing a graduation gift to cover 86 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:27,120 Speaker 2: all the final year education loans incurred by the Wilson 87 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:30,720 Speaker 2: College graduates during the twenty twenty five twenty six academic year. 88 00:04:30,800 --> 00:04:33,560 Speaker 2: He said, can you even imagine that moment, the gas, 89 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:35,919 Speaker 2: the tears, the white eyes, and the realization that a 90 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 2: debt had been paid for, and how adulthood didn't have 91 00:04:38,560 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 2: to begin underwater. One student called it an absolute game changer. 92 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:44,080 Speaker 2: Another said it was a big relief for me that 93 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 2: a good lump sum of my tuition is covered. One 94 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:48,960 Speaker 2: graduate admitted, I thought I was graduating, but now I 95 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:51,359 Speaker 2: get some money out of it, and honestly, I probably 96 00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 2: would have ugly cried right there in the folding chair 97 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:57,120 Speaker 2: while clutching my coffee in mascaretained tissues, because debt is 98 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,880 Speaker 2: heavy It follows people into marriages, motherhood, late night panic attacks, 99 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:03,960 Speaker 2: career choices and dreams deferred. It steals peace in quiet 100 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 2: ways people really talk about. And this weight resembles a 101 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:09,320 Speaker 2: little of what our Savior did for us on the cross, 102 00:05:09,360 --> 00:05:11,039 Speaker 2: and it brings me to tears to see in a 103 00:05:11,160 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 2: tangible way. And now I'll explain. The gift was connected 104 00:05:14,080 --> 00:05:17,040 Speaker 2: to his father's legacy at North Carolina State, after earning 105 00:05:17,080 --> 00:05:19,800 Speaker 2: both undergraduate and master's degrees there. You know, it's very 106 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:22,359 Speaker 2: difficult for students with these great debts. He said. We 107 00:05:22,400 --> 00:05:25,520 Speaker 2: wanted to do something for those graduating people. And maybe 108 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:27,520 Speaker 2: that's what wrecks me the most. Someone saw the burden 109 00:05:27,520 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 2: and decided to lift it. In a world that often 110 00:05:29,600 --> 00:05:32,039 Speaker 2: says figured it out yourself, this couple quietly said you 111 00:05:32,080 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 2: don't have to carry this alone. That kind of kindness 112 00:05:34,800 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 2: doesn't just pay loads. It restores hope and leaves a 113 00:05:37,040 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 2: mark on our hearts to carry it forward. Maybe somehow 114 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:41,800 Speaker 2: you and I both reading this, can find a way 115 00:05:41,800 --> 00:05:44,880 Speaker 2: to pay it forward too, carry each other's burdens, and 116 00:05:44,920 --> 00:05:46,920 Speaker 2: in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. 117 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:52,640 Speaker 2: Galatians six to two. 118 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening to story Behind podcast, 119 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,080 Speaker 1: We're really glad you joined it for this week's story. 120 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:04,320 Speaker 1: To see photos and videos that may have been referenced 121 00:06:04,320 --> 00:06:07,200 Speaker 1: in this episode, check out the links and the show notes, 122 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:10,680 Speaker 1: and if you enjoyed what you heard today, subscribe to 123 00:06:10,720 --> 00:06:14,279 Speaker 1: our podcast and please tell a friend about us. 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