Portland, Maine ? Merle Beane was just months from graduating when he walked out of Portland High School for the last time 64 years ago. Now, he has his diploma.

Afflicted by a condition that made his hands shake involuntarily, Beane struggled as he filled out an absentee form after missing school in 1939.

A woman in the office told him, “‘People like you shouldn’t be in school,”‘ Beane recalled.

Decades later, Beane sent an audiotape recounting the event to Portland High’s principal and said he wished to have his diploma.

Principal Michael Johnson, who was moved to tears by the story, pulled Beane’s transcript. The records showed Beane was on track for graduation and confirmed he had later gotten an equivalency diploma.

Johnson visited Beane, who’s confined to his bed because of medical problems, and brought a diploma along. Johnson said Beane was speechless at first, but the words finally came.

“He must have said thank you a hundred times,” Johnson said.