I should backtrack a little bit, though. Dave and I actually started planning our wedding before he formally proposed. He was away at sea between February and the end of July, 2001 as part of his school training to become a ship's officer. We'd been together for 5 years and had definitely planned to marry in 2001, but when my mother's dreaded cancer came back for a third time, we knew for certain that we wanted to expedite things...and so we began planning our wedding by fax, believe it or not!

We'd chosen October 27th as our wedding date originally, hoping it would be soon enough...but when it became clear that it wasn't, that's when we decided to seize the opportunity to do something extra-special. Nothing mattered more than to make our commitment to each other official, and to have Mom be there to witness our vows.

Everything came together very quickly...the decision was made by Wednesday, August 29th, then we were officially engaged on Thursday, August 30th, when Dave proposed to me with a BEAUTIFUL diamond ring when I was sitting on a large rock after we walked the hospital's lawns (it was a really emotional, special moment for me, of course...we joke that he gave me a "rock on a rock"...*hee hee*), and the next evening, we were married in a simple but incredibly touching, intimate ceremony in the hospital's chapel, with a few members of our immediate families and a couple of friends present. Mom of course was our guest of honour, as well as our ringbearer!

Several angels helped make this joyous ceremony possible, and we are forever grateful to them...Reverend Leslie Clark ("Pastor Lez"), who with only two days' notice unselfishly and immediately came to our aid and officiated an uplifting and memorable ceremony for us...and also a wonderful nurse named Cindy, who came in on her day off to care for Mom to ensure she'd be able to fully enjoy the wedding.

We also cannot forget the tremendous love and care extended to us by the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital staff on the third floor, and by another very extremely special lady...our social worker Vickeri, who arranged for us to be married in the hospital's chapel. And last but certainly not least, there was no way we could have pulled either of our weddings off without the love, support, and planning expertise of Mom's incredible sister, Auntie Sandy...wedding planner extraordinaire! All of these people went out of their way to support us, and there aren't enough words in the world to thank them enough...

Although our engagement and wedding didn't come about as we'd originally planned, getting married early is something we'll never regret having done, and will be a precious memory that we'll cherish forever...*grin*

We both know and feel deep in our hearts with the utmost intensity that we made the right decision, as Mom passed away on September 24, 2001.