Parkland School Prom Honors Slain Teens: ‘I Can Only Imagine How Beautiful My Daughter Would Look’

Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School senior prom was on Saturday night, and they honored the friends lost in February’s mass shooting throughout the night.

The prom took place at the Westin Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort over the weekend, and students had mixed feelings about media attention on their big night. While many have taken their platform after the shooting and put it to use for their activist causes, others felt that they deserved a normal senior prom after everything they’d been through.

Still, the community paid tribute to the 17 students they lost earlier this year, four of whom would have been at the prom if not for the tragic mass shooting.

On Twitter, Andrew Pollack posted photos with his late daughter’s friends before the dance.

“At Meadows’s friends pre-prom,” he wrote. “I can only imagine how beautiful my daughter would look today. We all miss you and love you Meadow!”

Meadow’s friends celebrated her in style throughout the night, according to the Miami Herald. Carley Ogazaly, one of her dearest friends, wore the dress that Meadow had meticulously chosen in her honor.

“I would have just worn a simple black dress,” she said. “But I know Meadow would have argued with me that it would be too plain. Me wearing this pink sparkly thing and me doing my nails the way Meadow would have is my way of making sure Meadow doesn’t miss prom.”

She and more than a dozen other girls rented a pink Cadillac limousine in tribute to their girly friend, writing “Princess Meadow” across the window, with “We love you Meadow” written elsewhere.

Many of her friends also wrote “Meadow” on each others’ shoulders in remembrance, with cartoon crowns over the top. Through tears, one confessed to a reporter that she still texts Meadow’s inactive phone number regularly.

“I talk to her every week or so. I keep her updated,” said Nicolette Miciotta. “Updated on life.” She showed the journalist one message which read: “I miss you. Still hoping for a response I’m not gonna get but I love you. Please come back.”

Another victim, Joaquin Oliver was killed in the shooting, leaving his girlfriend without a date. In his honor, his best friend Dillon McCooty accompanied her as, and their pictures went viral online as a testament to strength through adversity.

Other student activist attendees included Emma Gonzalez, Alex Wind, Jaclyn Corin, Cameron Kasky and David Hogg. The March For Our Lives organizers were recently named some of Time’s Most 100 Influential People of the year.