64-year-old law school graduate is given dream car on graduation day
Jerita Hall delayed going to law school to raise her five children.
— -- One mother postponed the pursuit of her ultimate dream of attending law school. Instead, Jerita Hall raised her children.
"That was my dream in high school, but I grew up in an area where there was not a lot of professional women that I knew," Hall, 64, recalled to ABC News.
"It was an era when most girls graduated high school, went to college and had a family. So I did all of that," she continued. "I was only able to go back to school once my last child finished college."
After obtaining her bachelor's degree in 1973, Hall decided to pause her law school pursuits and became an educational consultant for high school students. Decades later, she returned to school, earning her master's degree in 2011. It was the next step in her ultimate goal of getting her law degree, which she finally obtained last Saturday from John Marshall Law School in Atlanta.
Hall was surrounded by her children, including her grandchild, for her big day. Also, nearly 60 family members and friends showed up, lending their support.
Still, she had no idea just how her children decided to repay her for her sacrifice -- with her dream car, a black Mercedes Benz C300.
One of her daughters, Lori Hall, told ABC News that her mother had long wanted this car but was unsure if she could afford it right now, as she's now interning at a law firm.
So Lori Hall decided to buy the car for her mother, with her siblings' help, two months before she actually crossed the stage. The siblings waited until her mother's big day to reveal the gift.
"I told everyone to go outside for a photo. It was hot and muggy, but everyone came willingly," Lori Hall, 37, recalled.
After taking what seemed like family photos, Lori Hall said she asked her mother a random question: "Hey mom, do you like baseball?"
Her mother replied, "What do you mean?" That's when Lori Hall yelled, "Catch!" and threw her mom the keys to her new car.
The scene was captured in a now viral video that's been viewed millions of times on Facebook.
"I had absolutely no clue! I had no idea. That was mind boggling," Jerita Hall recalled of seeing her car.
Receiving the car also had a profound effect on her.
"It makes me feel that I'm where I should be," she said. "And my kids? I can't even express to you how thoughtful and wonderful they are."
Now that she's graduated, Jerita Hall plans to explore other opportunities in the legal field. Right now, she's busy driving her car.
"Oh, I've tested it!" she said with a laugh of her new Mercedes.
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