When a Weymouth teen was facing prom without her Marine boyfriend, she found a way to still make him her date.
"I wasn't planning on going to prom. I didn't want to go. I just thought, why not?" Allie Hardie told FOX25.
Hardie's boyfriend, Jake Balzano, is currently in Pensacola, Florida, in air traffic control school with the Marines. She was facing her senior prom at Weymouth High School alone.
"I told her to go," Balzano said. "I'd be upset if she wasn't able to go."
She ended up going, and the way it happened has been the talk of the town.
"The way she did it was amazing," he said.
Hardie has a 16 x 20 frame and with a photo of a Balzano in it. She said the photo has been a part of other events, including Thanksgiving dinner. And she thought, why not prom?
So that framed photo became her date. She walked the red carpet holding the frame, smiling ear to ear.
She even took Jake the Frame onto the dance floor.
"In a way I felt like I had the best date. Everyone had a boy behind them. But I had a United States Marine in front of me," said Hardie.
But what's even sweeter than her creative way to show how much she cares was Balzano's gift. He sent red roses on the day of prom with a letter saying, "It kills me to not be able to go to your prom with you tonight, but even 1,300 miles away, I know you’re the most beautiful girl there."
The teens have been dating for two years and they've been apart for almost one year. Their love has remained strong, despite the distance.
"You will find the one. I found mine. Stay strong to whoever you want. You will guarantee you will have it. She makes me laugh every day. Couldn't ask for anything more," said Balzano.
It's not the end of Jake the Frame. Allie said she's bringing him to her graduation this year.
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