At 6, I Promised My Best Friend with Down Syndrome We’d Go to Prom Together – 12 Years Later, Mom Said I Could Go with Him Only on One Condition

I climbed inside, leaned across the seat, and opened his.

Mom watched us in the mirror.

For years, she’d seen me beside Noah and thought one of us was taking care of the other.

She finally understood.

Nobody was rescuing anybody.

Nobody was fulfilling an obligation.

Nobody was rescuing anybody.

We were just two people who had figured something out at six that adults sometimes spend their whole lives learning.

When somebody matters to you, you stay.

And sometimes, if you’re lucky, they stay too.

When somebody matters to you, you stay.