A 97-Year-Old Woman Gets Emotional After Finally Receiving Her High School Diploma

A 97-year-old woman got very emotional when she received her high school diploma after quitting school for almost eight decades. Margaret Thome Bekema from Michigan can't control herself and began to cry when the school administrations handed her certificate.

According to Daily Mail Online, Margaret finally fulfilled her lifelong goal by wearing a mortar board in a simple ceremony attended by her friends and family at Yorkshire and Stonebridge Manor senior community in Walker on Oct. 29. School administrators from Catholic Central High School in Grand Rapids presented the very grateful grandmother with her honorary diploma.

"How can I express myself? I don't know how to express my thanks," she said while crying. "I'm sorry. I'm just plain chicken."

"She said her heart was broken when she dropped out and today was just a small part to lift that heart," Catholic Central principal Greg Deja told Fox17. Margaret was supposed to graduate on the said school in 1936, but in 1932, she had to leave school to look after her siblings and ailing mother with cancer.

Fortunately, Bored Panda noted that she have a distant family that helped her to fulfill her dreams. "I thank you from the bottom of my heart," Margaret told MLive.

"I had to quit school to take over the family. It was hard, you have no idea how hard that was. I loved high school and I had lots of friends." The Central Principal Greg Deja said: "her life has been one of sacrifice and service. It has been so encouraging and inspiring for our community because her choices represent all the core values that we teach our students."

Meanwhile, Gerri Smith, one of Margaret's two children, said that her mom felt sorry for not finishing her school with her class. However, she once worked for a government office agency during WWII and as a pre-school teacher at Grace Episcopal Church for 17 years.

Margaret's husband, on the other hand, was in the military, Daily Mail cited. "She said they had a 'good life," Gerri added. "But she always longed for her diploma."

Sister Maureen Geary, the daughter of Margaret's cousin Marian, called Catholic Central High School in August to ask if they can give her relative an honorary diploma and fortunately, they quickly agreed. Margaret is one of the school's oldest graduate and now part of the Catholic Central's alumni associate, called "The Pride."

Watch her heartwarming video below: