Chapter 1: The Woman Who Just Wanted to Be a Bride
I married a 70-year-old hospice patient to fulfill her last wish — after the funeral, her lawyer stepped aside with me and whispered, "I need you to see something.
She didn't choose you by accident."
I started volunteering at the local hospice a few years ago.
That's where I met Eleanor.
She was 70 years old.
While her illness was terminal, she still had days where her bright spirit completely outshined her diagnosis.
For weeks, I sat with her, reading and listening to her stories.
She had lived her entire life completely alone.
No husband, no children, no family to speak of.
One afternoon, she made a heartbreaking confession.
She told me her one lifelong regret was never experiencing what it felt like to be a bride.
She just wanted to wear a wedding dress and know what it meant to be chosen, even just once, before her time was up.
