64-year-old Preston Rolan was in bad shape. He had leukemia and it was getting worse. So he found himself spending more days at the hospital than he could have ever imagined. He was having to stay at the UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco. And the timing, he thought, could not have been worse.
Even though taking care of his medical condition was of the utmost importance, there was something else going on that, to him, was just as important. His 27-year-old daughter, Vieneese, was getting married, and there was just no way he was going to be able to attend the ceremony. It was something he had looked forward to for so long, to be able to walk her down the aisle, just like most fathers of daughters have the honor of doing.
Vieneese knew how bad her dad really was when doctors told her she needed to talk to him about making arrangements, and where he wants to die. Not comforting words for any child to hear about their parents.
So Vieneese talked to her fiance, and they decided to make some changes. She and her fiance then talked to the nurses in charge at her father’s hospital and special arrangements were made.
Some of those same nurses brought in several decorations –including silk flowers – to the hospital, because Vieneese was going to get married in the halls of that medical facility. And, as a big surprise for her father, he was actually going to be able to walk her down the aisle… or hallway, at least.
The hospital’s chaplains, some chefs and even a harpist showed up for the big day. And dad Preston could not have been any more pleased. He was thrilled that he could still have the honor of walking his daughter down and aisle.
But, maybe even more importantly, just him being there during the ceremony, seeing his beautiful daughter in her wedding dress, made him as happy as he could be.
And when Vieneese first showed up in her wedding dress and could see the priceless look on her dad’s face… well, that meant an awful lot to her as well.
Sometimes normal things can mean so much more when you show someone just how much you care… and how far you’ll go to include them.
Says Vieneese: My dad passed 3 weeks later after being in hospice and my husband and I created a non profit organization in his memory Stanton Standards Foundation
