Teenager makes surprise visit to dad on way to prom, goes viral

Vanessa Macedo of Tipton, Calif. was excited to go to prom Saturday night.

It’s her senior year – and there won’t be another chance.

“It was my first time in a nice dress, going out for a fancy dinner," says the Mission Oak High School senior.

But rather than head straight for the venue, she took a 25-mile detour.

"It meant a lot to me,” she says.

Her parents had been working at their fruit trailer, on Date and Leggett, in the town of Porterville.

Her father, Joaquin, had been distracted all afternoon.

He kept asking his youngest daughter to ask Vanessa for pictures.

“She was going to dress up like she never had. I wanted to see her," he says.

Rather than make her parents lose a day of work, Vanessa came to them, in her floor-length gown.

"My dad deserves to see me,” she says.

Her father eventually called, but she didn't answer -- thinking it would ruin the surprise.

Cell phone video Vanessa's boyfriend recorded shows her father's jaw drop as he opens the door to the trailer and sees her.

The 23-second video has been viewed by more than two million people on Twitter, as of midday Tuesday.

It touched many.

“I'm very proud of her. I love her very much. She's my world,” Joaquin Macedo said.

Vanessa is in student leadership, cheerleading and swimming.

She got a job to offset those costs.

But prom almost didn’t happen.

“We've been really struggling as a family for two years,” she said.

Her father got hurt on the job two years ago, and has been out of work since.

Her parents have only had the fruit trailer, that serves treats like fruit cups, Tostilocos, and Agua de Coco, for a few weeks.

"I didn't want them to stop working when they just started," she says.

One of her brothers pitched in.

"I paid for half of my dress, and my brother paid for the other half," she says.

After all, a senior prom only happens once.

A reaction like this, too.

She debated whether to share the video, and eventually decided to post it.

"I thought, 'I like it. I want my friends to see it,'" she says.

And her friends have -- along with millions more.

"It's crazy!" Vanessa said.