While lasting memories were made at the first annual Centra PACE Senior Prom two weeks ago, the impact of the event goes much deeper than remembering how people dressed or danced.

The event has and will continue to leave a profound impact on the senior citizens who attended and the Centra PACE staff who worked the event.

For some seniors, it was the best day of their lives. Many, for various reasons, never attended proms in high school. Maybe because they had children to feed or husbands to look after — such was the case for Elizabeth Layne — or maybe because their educational journeys didn’t afford them the opportunity.

During the two-day event, Centra PACE gave these seniors not only the memories they deserved but feelings of excitement, romance and rejuvenation.

Layne never had the chance to attend prom while in high school; she got married at age 17.

The Charlotte County resident said she “never imagined” she would be crowned queen of the prom. “This is the best day of my life. I am always going to remember this,’” Layne told Centra PACE employee Dixie McDowell at the end of the event.

Layne wasn’t the only senior who experienced the happiness and joy the staff brought to their clients. Wearing a blue dress with a matching top, Mary Watson, a 98-year-old woman, gingerly danced with Carol Emerson, a Centra staff member.

I’m willing to bet that’s the first time in years, and maybe ever, she’s danced at a prom.

Seventy-three-year old Helen Cupidore — who didn’t attend her high school prom — didn’t dance during the event.

She didn’t have to move on the dance floor to find happiness. She got a great deal of satisfaction from watching her friends have fun.

I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for the elderly, as anyone who knows me well can tell you. While covering this event brought a great deal of happiness to me — as someone who attended both my junior and senior proms — I can only imagine the feeling and impact Centra’s event had on members of this often forgotten population.

JORDAN MILES is a senior staff writer for The Farmville Herald. His email address is Jordan.Miles@FarmvilleHerald.com.