The girl in blue is the true example of what a queen should be. The girl in blue. Not the one who was crowned. Not the one who won. But the true example. The real queen. Because of what she did next.
She was crowned Homecoming Queen by her senior class, but took the crown off her head and placed it on the girl in pink, who was escorted by her dad and had lost her mom to cancer that same morning. The moment. Crowned Homecoming Queen. The achievement. The recognition. The moment that should be hers. But she took the crown off her head. Didn’t keep it. Didn’t celebrate herself. Placed it on the girl in pink. The girl who was escorted by her dad. Who had lost her mom to cancer that same morning. That same morning. Hours before homecoming. Buried her mother. Came to homecoming anyway. And the girl in blue—the one who was crowned—saw that and decided: she needs this more than I do.
Her act showed amazing grace, kindness, friendship, beauty, and love. The character revealed. Amazing grace—the selflessness of giving away your crown. Kindness—seeing someone in pain and responding. Friendship—being the kind of friend who sacrifices for others. Beauty—not just physical but the beauty of character. Love—genuine love for another person.
Way to go, sweet girl, we could all learn something about “loving thy neighbor” from you. The praise. The recognition. Way to go. Sweet girl. We could all learn. All of us. Something about loving thy neighbor. The biblical commandment. Love your neighbor as yourself. And the girl in blue showed us what that looks like. Giving away your crown to someone who needs it more.
The girl in blue is the true example of what a queen should be. Not because she was crowned. But because she gave the crown away. Because she saw someone in more pain than herself. Someone who lost her mom that same morning. Someone who came to homecoming despite that loss. And decided: this moment should be hers, not mine.
She was crowned Homecoming Queen by her senior class. The recognition. Her peers voted. She won. She was crowned. The moment every girl in the competition wanted. The crown placed on her head. The recognition. The applause. All hers.
But took the crown off her head and placed it on the girl in pink. The sacrifice. Took the crown off. Her crown. Her achievement. Her moment. And placed it on the girl in pink. The girl standing beside her. Made a different choice. Gave it away.
Who was escorted by her dad and had lost her mom to cancer that same morning. The context. The girl in pink. Escorted by her dad—not her mom and dad. Just her dad. Because she had lost her mom to cancer. That same morning. The same day as homecoming. Her mother died that morning. And she came to homecoming anyway. Probably because her mom would have wanted her to. Probably because missing it wouldn’t bring her mom back. Probably because she needed to be with friends. And the girl in blue saw that pain. Recognized that loss. And gave away her crown.
Her act showed amazing grace, kindness, friendship, beauty, and love. The character. What this moment revealed about the girl in blue. Grace—unmerited favor, giving something precious to someone else. Kindness—seeing pain and responding with generosity. Friendship—being the kind of friend who sacrifices. Beauty—the inner beauty that matters more than any crown. Love—genuine, sacrificial love.
Way to go, sweet girl, we could all learn something about “loving thy neighbor” from you. The lesson for all of us. This girl—this sweet girl in blue—showed us what loving your neighbor looks like. Not abstract. Not theoretical. But actual. Practical. Taking your crown off your head and putting it on someone who needs it more. Seeing someone else’s pain and deciding they matter more than your moment of glory. That’s loving thy neighbor. And we could all learn from her.
The photograph shows them—homecoming court. The girl in blue in her red dress. The girl in pink in her blue dress. Both with their escorts. The girl in pink now wearing the crown. The moment captured. The grace documented. The love visible.
The girl in blue was crowned Homecoming Queen. And she gave it away. Because the girl in pink lost her mom that morning. And the girl in blue decided: she needs this more than I do. That’s what a queen should be. That’s loving thy neighbor. That’s the grace and kindness and friendship and beauty and love we could all learn from.