A Girl’s Dream Wedding
Girls start dreaming about their perfect wedding at a very young ate. Young girls put pillowcases on their heads, and they walk around in their mother’s shoes. In their eyes, they are wearing a gorgeous wedding dress, with their hair just right, with celebrity crush on their side. In most cases, the perfect wedding just doesn’t exist. It will never be the way it was when you were 7-years old in your mom’s shoes.
Kaylee and Ashlee Halbert
Kaylee and Ashlee Halbert are sisters. Kaylee was 18-years-old, and Ashlee was 16. The two girls were “daddy’s girls.” From the day they were born, they were the apple of their father’s eye. Sadly, things in the family started to fall apart after Jason had an appointment with his neurosurgeon in April 2018.
Brain Tumor
When the doctor told Jason that he had a tumor in his brain stem, Jason’s wife, Nicole, says that the family’s world changed. Jason went through chemotherapy and radiation, and his family says that he was a superhero during that time. Nicole says that when she heard her husband’s diagnosis, her heart stopped, she couldn’t hear, and her breathing had become shallow. Despite going through treatment, Jason’s doctors told him that he had two to three months to live. The family was speechless, and all they could think about was everything that Jason would miss when he was gone.
Walking Down the Aisle
While the fact that Jason wouldn’t be there to watch his daughters graduate from high school and college, it was missing their wedding day that was the most devastating. A father is supposed to walk his daughters down the aisle on their big day, and they are supposed to have the traditional father-daughter dance. Kaylee and Ashlee couldn’t get over the fact that they would both have to go through their big days without their fathers by their side. Their dream of dancing with the first man they ever loved was shattered, and Ashlee and Kaylee were brokenhearted.
Having Their Dance
Nicole decided that it was up to her to give Jason and her daughters, their father-daughter dance, no matter what it took. She knew that they had just two to three months to pull off the fake wedding. When the Halberts’ story spread, dozens of people came forward to offer their services. The girls borrowed gorgeous wedding dresses, and friends offered to help with hair and makeup. Nicole had a friend who was a photographer who offered to shoot the event for free. Nicole wanted everything to be perfect, and everyone who pitched in to help wanted the same thing.
The Wedding
During the girls’ fake wedding, there was no groom. Their father walked them down the aisle at the venue, and plenty of photos were taken. After, the girls each had a chance to dance with their father. It was a dance that they knew that they wouldn’t have during their real weddings, so this dance was extremely important. Some people thought that the fake wedding was morbid, but the Halberts saw it differently.
Giving In To The Darkness
Nicole says that the whole family had been by Jason’s side during his journey. She says that it is very easy to give in to the darkness, and they refused. Instead, they tried to find a glimmer of light in the darkness, which was why they did when they had the fake wedding. Nicole says that when her daughters look back on this chapter of their lives that she wants them to remember a journey of life rather than a journey of death.
Dancing In the Rain
The Halbert family believes in dancing in the rain, which is what the family did after Jason’s diagnosis. After hearing he was sick, the family tried to help him live what little life he had left to the fullest. They took trips, took pictures, at delicious desserts, and made memories at their fake wedding. These teen daughters stage fake weddings for the most unsuspecting purpose and meant everything. Sadly, other families aren’t so lucky.
The Goralski Family
The Goralskis were a loving family, but things weren’t always easy. Josh, Bethany, and Hanna didn’t have their father, Mark, around as much as they would have liked growing up. He had Crohn’s disease and kidney disease, which kept him from doing things that other fathers could do. Mark was a fighter, but in 2011, he needed a kidney transplant. His health improved for a while, but in 2018, the doctors told mark that he needed another kidney, but he was too sick for the transplant. He was told he didn’t have months to live; it was just days. Saying goodbye was devastating.
Honoring Their Father’s Memory
To honor their father after his death, Bethany and Hannah decided to each donate a kidney to someone on the transplant list. They wanted the procedure to take place in the hospital where Mark died. They say that on the morning of the surgery, they could feel their father’s presence. They may not have had time to live their best lives with their dad, but they gave other families a chance.
