Summer Adamson heard a trumpet outside her home in Salt Lake City, Utah, and knew something was brewing. What she did not imagine was seeing a group of teenagers approach with a toy horse, a scroll, and behind all of them, Carter riding a real pony.
The whole scene was for Jayne, her 17-year-old daughter with Down syndrome, whom Carter wanted to ask to prom. Jayne and Carter know each other through a school peer tutoring program, the kind of friendships built day by day by helping each other in class and on the court.
When Jayne came out and understood what was happening, she kept repeating the same phrase to her mother: “This is the best night of my life!”. Summer says it reflected something every parent of a child with special needs longs for: to see them feel included, seen, and loved by those around them.