Evergreen Park woman gets 2nd chance at prom, surprise engagement 20 years later

EVERGREEN PARK, Ill. (WLS) -- The decorations are set and the school gym is ready for a night to remember!

It's prom night at Evergreen Park Community High School, only the gym isn't full with high school students -- just one former one.

Callie Doran is a 2002 graduate. She said she had a horrible prom experience all those years ago. So much so, that she still talks about it to this day.

"Didn't go as she wanted, to say the least," said Doran's boyfriend, Roberto Quiles. "It's not that she's on it every day about it, but you know when you watch a TV show and you see something and you're like all these kids and their prom -- mine was terrible."

So Quiles set out to change that.

"He told me that one of his bosses was getting engaged," Doran said.

Someone was getting engaged, just not Quiles' boss.

"It was set up like a little prom and he's like, 'It's your prom,' and I'm like, 'What is happening,'" Doran said.

Quiles even crowned Doran prom queen before dancing the night away.

Then, Doran's family held up signs with special notes Quiles had written signifying their love, ending with the most important one.

Doran then turned around to see him down on one knee.

Her reaction was priceless and her answer, of course, was "yes."

It's safe to say, it was quick and resounding.

The recreated night turned the Hallmark-movie prom experience Doran never had into the prom of her dreams 20 years later.

"It was so different, so much better," Doran said. "I'm speechless."

Quiles said he's been planning the night for months. They drove all the way from Milwaukee, where they now live.

He recruited the help of family, friends, and permission from the school, of course, to make this prom-posal happen."

"I just thought it was a great story. It was just something really out of a movie," said Tim Moran, public relations director at Evergreen Park Community High School. "He just sent an email and it was just a matter of fact of, 'Hey do you think you'd be available on February 5?' And I said, 'This is wonderful.'"

Perhaps there is a lesson in this love story.

"Life isn't what it seems, you can always make things better. You just gotta do it yourself," Quiles said.