EDMONDS, Wash. (KING) – A Washington woman said yes to the dress, even though she’s nowhere close to having her dream wedding. But she made a priceless memory with her mother, who has terminal brain cancer.
Planning a wedding day and buying a dress are joyful moments that many mothers and daughters share, but sometimes, the unforeseen gets in the way.
“Well, I think everyone makes plans, and then, at a certain point you say, ‘Hmm, are those going to come true?’ And you just don’t know,” Colleen Gilbert said.
For Colleen Gilbert, a mother of six, her plans came to an abrupt halt two years ago when she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer.
Her daughter Christine Gilbert got to thinking about memories the two could still make together.
“What are the things that a mother and daughter do? This is sure something that came up to me, especially since she’s been saying more and more, ‘I really want to see you married,’” Christine Gilbert said.
With Christine Gilbert very single, a wedding was out of the question – but maybe not a wedding dress. She got the whole family to dress up in finery, booked a limousine and had a surprise wedding dress party at Kita Bridal in Edmonds, Washington.
At the party, Christine Gilbert tried on wedding dresses, and mother and daughter laughed and cried together. For a few hours, the cancer no longer existed.
“It was great to lose ourselves in that for a day and truly just take ourselves on that wild, fantastical journey,” Christine Gilbert said.
While she’ll likely never see her daughter walk down the aisle, Colleen Gilbert will forever know what she’ll look like in her wedding dress.
“Something like this that I thought was totally out of the question happens, it is very, very special,” Colleen Gilbert said.
It’s one small wish that has come true, a memory of a lifetime, thanks to a daughter’s love for her mom.
“So, we’re just taking it day by day, but that was a pretty great day,” Christine Gilbert said.
The owner of Kita Bridal, Krista Larrison, agreed to open up her shop and host the private dress party for free. She knows all about the bond between mothers and daughters, as she took care of her own mom with dementia for 11 years.
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