93-year-old woman receives her high school diploma 75 years after she was forced to leave school

  • 24 Oct - 30 Oct, 2020
  • Mag The Weekly
  • Mag Files

A 93-year-old woman who never had the chance to graduate high school was finally presented with her diploma 75 years later – all thanks to her loving family. When Eileen Delaney's 93rd birthday recently rolled around, the Staten Island, New York-raised woman expected to celebrate the day with her family. What she didn't expect, however, was to receive something she had been waiting close to eight decades for: her high school diploma from Port Richmond High School's class of 1945. "I had absolutely no idea this was going to happen," Eileen said. "I'm very lucky. I've had a good life. This was like the topping on the cake." The idea to surprise Eileen first came to her niece ahead of her birthday. Eileen's family knew that she never had a chance to earn her diploma after she was forced to leave her high school in Staten Island midway through her senior year in order to get a full-time job. After coming up with the idea, the family decided to reach out to the alumni association at Port Richmond High School and ask them if they could help. Principal Andrew Greenfield happily obliged. He told that it was "the easiest and happiest" decision that he's made this year.

RELATED POST

COMMENTS