East Greenwich teen remembers late friend by wearing her prom dress

By Kirsten Glavin

kglavin@abc6.com

@kirstenglavin

EAST GREENWICH, RI – It’s not just a dress to Emma Schambers. It’s a way to keep the memory of her best friend alive.

"If something happens and I want to tell her, I can’t. Its like, you wish you had a phone number to heaven. But you don’t,” said Schambers.

Catherine Malatesta of Arlington, MA, Was only 16 when she lost her battle with stage-4 cancer in August. But in May, she was able to slip out of the hospital and into a navy gown for her junior year prom.

"Prom was a very important time for her, because it was like the light in her life at the moment. She wasn’t really looking forward to anything else at the time,” Schambers explained.

Schambers, a senior at East Greenwich High School, is one of four friends wearing Catherine’s dress to prom this year. She met Catherine at summer camp two years ago. Miraculously, back in January, the girls realized the dress fit all four of them.

"It’s really magical that it fits us all,” Schambers told ABC-6 News.

That’s when they decided to wear it to their own proms, this year.

"When we’re in the dress we feel more confident and more beautiful, just because we know her spirit is with us, and I think that really helps us a lot."

For Schambers, it’s not about what the dress looks like. It’s about always remembering and raising awareness for the deadly disease. "Maybe in a couple of years, you won’t have to be interviewing a 19–year–old girl who just lost her best friend."

Schambers will wear the dress to her prom in East Greenwich, next Friday. From there, the dress will head to Arlington, MA.