Dad takes late son’s girlfriend to the prom
MERCERSBURG, Pa. – A Pennsylvania father who wanted his late son’s girlfriend to experience the prom accompanied her to the high school dance Saturday, a month after his son died.
Carter Brown, 19, died April 15 in a three-vehicle crash in Huntingdon, Pa. He had crossed into the opposing lane and hit the rear driver’s side of one car before colliding head-on with another car, according to the Centre Daily Times.
Brown didn’t really want to go to a high school prom — he was in college — but he was still excited to go because it would make his girlfriend, Kaylee Suders, 18, happy.
That’s why Brown’s dad, Robert Brown, stepped in to take Suders to her James Buchanan High School senior prom Saturday.
“I think that my husband is incredible. He is just a loving and giving human. He’s truly amazing, he is a gift,” said Kelly Brown, Carter’s mom and Robert’s wife. “I know that, Carter was in college, he wasn’t super excited about going to a high school prom, but he was excited about doing that for Kaylee ... so Rob didn’t like the idea of Kaylee not getting that.”
Getting ready for the prom was a family affair. Suders has been staying at the Browns’ home most days since Carter Brown died, even sleeping in his room, so most of the prom preparation happened there.
“It was overwhelming,” Robert Brown said. “Just the experience of seeing her, in the days prior, getting ready — she seemed to be excited.”
Suders and Robert Brown went to the prom at Green Grove Gardens in Greencastle, Pa., in Carter Brown’s Audi TT.
At the prom, Robert Brown tried his best to fit in with the teens.
“It takes a special kind of person to step up, especially when they’re hurting and going through stuff, too. It’s nice he took the initiative to ask her,” Suder’s mom, Christina Nicholas, said.
The Browns have endured more than just a tough month; their oldest son, Christopher Brown, died in September at age 23.
“We lost Chris in September. Seven months apart, it’s an awful lot,” Kelly Brown said. “This gave us something to be excited about. So that was also kinda a gift to have something fun to look forward to. It was big deal for all of us.”