ODESSA, Fla. - Sometimes you need a little more lipstick to feel extra special.

And sometimes you need a little help from your friends. And that’s exactly what Bishop McLaughlin senior Raquel Caramello got, some help, getting ready for her homecoming dance. Her friend Lauren worked her magic with the makeup.

It’s that time of year, when high school girls all over the country are getting ready for homecoming dances. They’re curling their hair. They’re putting on makeup. And Raquel is just like them. And that is everything for someone with Down’s Syndrome. She gets to be just like one of the girls.

“Sometimes people do things for people with special needs because they feel sorry for them,” Raquel’s mother Janet said. “But here it’s absolutely because they’re friends, because they like hanging out with each other and because they are kind to each other.”

Normalcy is everything to someone with special needs. And there aren’t too many more normal events in high school than a homecoming dance. And this one started at a football game with a simple question. 

When the Best Buddies Club at Calvary Christian heard about Raquel’s dream of attending her dance with a date, the varsity football team sprang into action. Several players each made a pitch with homemade signs asking Raquel to homecoming. The teddy bear won.

Raquel picked Ricky Brown, a Calvary Christian junior to be her date to the dance. There’s something about watching a dream come true. And Raquel’s face spoke volumes with an amazing message.

“We all need to be included. We all want to feel important,” said Suzanne Smith, Calvary Christian Best Buddies sponsor. “And everybody needs a friend and we’re more alike than we are different. If we can just focus on what we all have in common, I think it brings the best out of everybody.”

You can’t go to a homecoming dance without posing for some photos. Raquel and her best buddies smiled for the cameras. And there were a lot of smiles that day. Because there was plenty to smile about.

“It really makes you feel like humanity is awesome,” Janet said. “It’s just kindness is in the world. Everybody is more alike than different and we all should have kindness to each other.”