84-Year-Old Grandmother From Danbury Fulfills Her Lifelong Dream

84-year-old Joan Butler Kayser reached for the stars and won!

Back when Kayser was a teenager, she decided to drop out of high school in 1954, because she needed to help support her family. The News Times reports that since that day, she kept telling her mother that someday, she would go back and earn her high school diploma.

At first, everyday life got in the way, but not in a bad way. Kayser got married and had five children, and then three grandchildren, and then three great grandchildren. But in the back of her mind, she never forgot the promise she made to herself and to her mother.

In May of 2018, she told her kids she was working on a secret project so they wouldn't know she was actually studying to acquire her GED. With the help of her home aide, Carol Thibodeau, Kayser began taking the four tests, which included English, reading comprehension, math and social studies. Joan Kayser figured there was no way she was going to pass those tests, especially the test in social studies.

In December, however, Thibodeau handed Joan a wrapped up package.

You guessed it! She had passed all four tests and inside, was her certificate. Joan Kayser told the News Times that when she opened the package and realized it was her diploma, she burst into tears.

What even makes this accomplishment more amazing is that Kayser has visual, hearing, and mobility impairments. Nicely done, Joan Butler Kayser. Congratulations!