More than 50 years ago, Barbara Rickert missed her senior prom. This spring, Pennsbury High School is giving her and her now-husband a second chance, writes Kristen A. Graham for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Barbara and her husband Skip, both Pennsbury Class of 1972, have been invited back to their alma mater as grand marshals of the school’s nationally celebrated prom parade.

Barbara never made it to prom the first time. She was pregnant with her first child, and the missed opportunity stuck with her husband, Skip, for decades.

“My wife never got to be a girl,” Skip said. “I carried the prom thing with me for a long time.”

The two reconnected eight years after graduating, married, and raised a family together.

A Bucks County native, Skip went on to build a career that took him across the world, working as a music tour director for artists including Santana, Guns N’ Roses, and the Backstreet Boys.

Last fall, he was inducted into the Pennsbury Hall of Fame. It was during that visit that school officials learned Barbara had never attended prom, and extended an invitation the couple couldn’t refuse.

Now both 71, the Rickerts are leaning into the moment. Formalwear has been selected. Flowers are planned. Friends from their high school days have weighed in on Barbara’s dress.

“So excited,” Barbara said.

Long considered one of the most elaborate school traditions in the country, Pennsbury’s prom is no ordinary high school dance.

The event draws national attention for its parade, community involvement, and go-big spirit, the kind of send-off that, for Barbara Rickert, never quite got its chance.

Until now.

Learn more about Skip and Barbara Rickert and the couple’s upcoming return to the famed Pennsbury High School prom in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

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