Once in a while in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale. No one is too old for fairy tales, and Friday night was one for King Steven and me.
Steven is in ClemsonLIFE, and on Feb. 12, he was the king of the prom at Tim Tebow’s Night to Shine in Central at ALIVE Wesleyan Church. More than one king and queen were crowned Friday night. There were more than 30,000 queens and kings in at least 200 churches in 48 states and seven other countries. Night to Shine is an unforgettable prom night experience, centered on God’s love, for people with special needs ages 16 and older.
Every special needs guest of Night to Shine entered on a red carpet complete with a heartfelt welcome from an encouraging crowd and pleasant paparazzi. Once inside, each and every one of the guests received the royal treatment, including hair and makeup stations, limo rides, a karaoke room and, of course, dancing. Every one of the Night to Shine guests was crowned as king or queen of the prom.
I believe in fairy tales. Sometimes life gives us fairy tales, and other times in life we have to fight for them because we know they do exist. Without Tim Tebow and his organization, the kings and queens would not have had such an amazing prom experience.
“When I was at one of the proms last year, a beautifully dressed queen of the prom was hugging me when the girl’s mom leaned over and whispered with tears in her eyes, ‘My daughter will never get married and she will never have children, but tonight you made her feel like a princess!’” said Tebow.
During the night, I could not help but think how lucky I was to be a part of something so amazing. Steven and the guests may have thought they were the lucky ones, but I was the blessed one to be able to spend the night with them. 
At one point in the night, King Steven decided he wanted to go to the karaoke room to sing. It was inspiring to see how confident he was singing One Republics’ “Counting Stars” lyrics while I’m too scared to even fathom the idea of going on stage to sing. All of the kings and queens of the prom at ALIVE Wesleyan Church taught me to be more confident and not to constantly worry about what others may think or say. Just as the popular karaoke song of the night says, “Let it go, let it go!”
 It may have been a cold night, but my heart kept me warm with all of the laughter and love it was filled with. I could not have imagined a better night. From walking down the red carpet with King Steven to listening to him sing karaoke, these are memories I will cherish forever. Steven and all of the other kings and queens of Night to Shine will always be royalty in my eyes. So I would like to say thank you to Tim Tebow and all of the kings and queens of the prom for an unforgettable memory that I will always hold dear to my heart. The night may have ended when the clock struck half past nine, but that does not mean the fairy tale ended for any one of the beautiful queens and the dashing kings.