A VERY SPECIAL PROM, THANKS TO A FRIEND.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
Jessyca Avalos could tell something was wrong. Her new friend was usually smiling and bubbly, always glad to be around people. But on this Saturday at a meeting of the Young Senators group last month in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. City Councilman Richard Alarcon's Sylmar field office, Jamie Aparicio was clearly down. The 30 graduating seniors in the group were from high schools throughout the northeast Valley. They all had an eye on a career in politics after college, and 25-year-old Jessy -- a field deputy for Alarcon -- was helping show them the way. That's where she had met the 18-year-old Polytechnic High senior a few weeks earlier. Jamie was moving on to Mission College for a couple of years, and then hopefully either to USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. or CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge to major in political science. Jessy took to her right away. She had never seen so much energy and life packed into a body only 3-feet-tall. Jamie had been born with Morquio syndrome Morquio syndrome Mucopolysaccharidosis IV Metabolic disease An AR mucopolysaccharide storage disease characterized by 6-sulfo-N-acetylhexosaminide sulfatase deficiency and excretion of keratosulfate in urine Clinical Coarse facies, short stature, and skeletal, , a rare hereditary disorder of bone development that results in severe malformation malformation /mal·for·ma·tion/ (-for-ma´shun) 1. a type of anomaly. 2. a morphologic defect of an organ or larger region of the body, resulting from an intrinsically abnormal developmental process. of the skeleton. "My bones weren't allowed to stretch out," is how she explained it to Jessy that first day. The two hit it off instantly. Morquio syndrome may have stunted her growth and put Jamie in a wheelchair most of the time to get around, but it hadn't touched the rest of her life. She was one of the most popular seniors at Poly High in Sun Valley, roaming the hallways in her wheelchair offering a ride to anyone late for class. "Hop on Verb 1. hop on - get up on the back of; "mount a horse" bestride, climb on, jump on, mount up, get on, mount move - move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion; "He moved his hand slightly to the right" ," she'd say, breaking the speed limit to math class. But that smile and bubbly personality weren't anywhere to be found on that Saturday last month, and Jessy wanted to know why. "I'm just having a bad day, that's all," Jamie told her. "But you've got some great times coming up, prom night, grad night." "I'm not going to my prom," Jamie said. "It's a lot of money and my folks can't afford it. That's OK. I'll just stay home." No, it wasn't OK, Jessy told her. Prom night was a big night in every girl's life. It sure was when she graduated from Notre Dame Academy Notre Dame Academy may refer to:
"Money was never an issue in my house," Jessy said later. "My parents weren't wealthy, but they worked hard. For the first time I realized how hard it was for some parents to pay for even something like their daughter's prom." "You're going," Jessy said. "I'm paying." "But I don't have anyone to go with," Jamie said. "Yes, you do," Jessy said. After buying the $230 prom night tickets for Poly's party at the Ronald Reagan Library last month, Jessy took Jamie shopping the next day at the San Fernando San Fernando, city, Argentina San Fernando (săn fərnăn`dō), city (1991 pop. 144,761), Buenos Aires prov., E Argentina. It is a district administrative center in the Greater Buenos Aires area. city mall City Mall is a shopping mall located in Eroii Revolutiei square, Bucharest, Romania. The City Mall include:
They got lucky. In the first store they walked in -- a shop that sold party clothing for children -- they found a long, black-and-white, spaghetti-strap dress for $79 that fit Jamie perfectly. The day of the prom, Jessy showed up at Jamie's house a few hours early to do her makeup and hair. Then she pinned a corsage she had bought on her friend's prom dress. Jessy was about to put her wheelchair in the truck, but Jamie said not to bother. She was going to walk into her senior prom. "I thought I could walk that far," Jamie said. "This was something special, once in a lifetime. I had to." It took them a long time to walk arm-in-arm down the long corridor into the ballroom together, but they were in no rush, Jessy said. She knew there were going to be many great nights in the life of her remarkable friend, and this was one of them. She wanted Jamie to savor every second. "It was so wonderful when we walked in, and my teachers and friends saw me," Jamie said Friday. "They were all so happy. A few of them had tears in their eyes. I guess I did, too." And then Jamie Aparicio did what any young girl does on prom night. She danced with her classmates Classmates can refer to either:
"I got her home around 11:30 p.m., and she was exhausted," Jessy said. "But she was still smiling and talking about what a great time she had." Yep, Jessy Avalos said Friday, looking forward to seeing Jamie on Saturday at the Young Senators meeting. That was the best $365 she ever spent. dennis.mccarthy@dailynews.com, (818) 713-3749 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Jamie Aparicio, left, from Polytechnic High School, enjoys her prom night with Jessyca Avalos, a field deputy for City Councilman Richard Alarcon. |
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