My classmates laughed at me when I came to prom with my grandmother and invited her for the first dance… But everything changed when I took the microphone and made the whole hall fall silent 

I was eighteen years old, and I came to prom with the only close person I had left — my grandmother.

My mother died when I was born. I never knew my father. By the time I was old enough to understand what family meant, I already had only my grandmother.

Her name was Marta.

She raised me alone. When I was born, she was already over fifty. Her hands were tired, her back often hurt, but in my entire life I never once heard her complain.

In the evenings she read books to me, even when by the end of the day her eyes were almost closing from exhaustion. Every Saturday she made pancakes, even in the times when we barely had enough money for food. She came to every school performance, sat quietly at the very back of the hall, but applauded louder than anyone else.

To make a living, my grandmother worked as a cleaner. And she worked in the very same school where I studied. That’s when the mockery began.

Some said that when I grew up I would also walk around with a mop. Others laughed and said that I smelled like cleaning products. In the hallways there were constant whispers, giggles, and sarcastic remarks.

I heard everything. I saw the looks they exchanged when my grandmother walked down the corridor with her cleaning cart.

But I never told her anything. I didn’t want to hurt her. She worked honestly so that I could have a normal life, and it seemed unfair to make her feel guilty for that.

So the years passed. And then prom arrived.

Everyone around me talked about who they would invite to dance. The girls were choosing dresses, the boys were talking about the parties after the prom.

But I had known for a long time who I would invite. When I asked my grandmother, she first thought I was joking.

She said several times that it was a bad idea. She said she didn’t belong there among young people. But that evening she came anyway.

She wore an old dress with flowers that she had kept for many years. Before we left she was nervous and kept apologizing that she didn’t have a beautiful outfit. To me, she looked better than anyone else.

When the music started, the boys began inviting the girls to dance.

I stood aside for a while. Then I walked up to my grandmother and held out my hand.

— Shall we dance?

She was confused, but she agreed. And at that very moment laughter spread across the hall.

Someone shouted loudly:

— What, couldn’t you find a girl your own age?

Another voice added:

— He brought the janitor to prom!

I felt my grandmother’s hand tremble slightly. She tried to smile, but quietly said that maybe it would be better for her to go home so she wouldn’t ruin my evening.

At that moment something inside me seemed to break. I gently let go of her hand and asked for the music to stop for a moment. The hall instantly fell silent.

I took the microphone and turned to the crowd.  The continuation of the story, what exactly I did, can be found in the first comment 

— Right now you are laughing at a woman who has washed the floors of this school for twenty years, I said calmly. — But it is thanks to this woman that I had food on the table, schoolbooks, clothes, and the chance to stand here today with all of you.

The hall became quiet.

— She came home late in the evening with an aching back, but still read books to me before I went to sleep. She saved money for my notebooks and school trips, even when she didn’t buy anything for herself for months.

I paused and looked at my grandmother.

— Because of her hard work, I was able to finish this school. Because of her, I received a scholarship to attend university.

I gripped the microphone tighter.

— If someone ever appears in your life who does even half of what she has done for me, consider yourselves the luckiest people in the world.

The hall was so quiet that you could hear someone take a deep breath.

The first to start applauding was one of the teachers. Then several others joined her. Within seconds, the entire hall was applauding.