A Virginia woman called off her engagement photo shoot with her fiancé and rushed to take pictures with her terminally ill father in their childhood home when she learned that her father would soon move to hospice care.
“My dad [Tim] has been fighting prostate cancer and his body is now at the point where it can’t handle more treatment. We found out yesterday that he starts hospice this week,” Carey wrote to photographer Bonnie Turner, requesting they use the deposit for engagement photo for a family photo shoot instead.
Carey wanted to do it fast as she didn’t know if her father had enough time. “Dad is getting weaker by the day, and unfortunately, we have to do this as soon as possible. I wanted to see if you were able and willing to come and take photos at my parent’s house in Woodbridge on this really last-minute request. We are throwing this plan together really fast because we don’t know how long we have before he won’t be able to,” she wrote to Turner.
Carey organized a dance with her father and one of her friends agreed to help video shoot it. “My dad and I are getting dressed up to film our dance so I can have it at my wedding,” she wrote. They planned to photo shoot on the same day.
Turner agreed to her heart-touching request and in November last year, Carey reached her childhood home for an emotional photo shoot. Turner shared it in a Facebook post that went viral.
On their chosen day Carey put on her wedding dress and her dad put on his Air Force dress blues and Turner shot some incredible photos of them in the backyard where she grew up.
Carey was sure, Turner could make their day special. “It’s not an ideal location, but I know you can make anything look gorgeous,” she wrote.
Turner shared the heart-touching story on March 29, the day Tim died.
“She knew he possibly wouldn’t make it to walk her down the aisle or share that father-daughter dance on her wedding day. So she took it upon herself to scratch those engagement photos for a while and share that father-daughter moment in the back yard where she grew up,” Turner wrote in her Facebook post.
Turner said photographs are the only way to cherish memories in such situations. “My heart is heavy today as I have been informed of his passing. He fought so hard for a very long time,” she wrote.
Turner got an overwhelming response to her Facebook post and users applauded Carey’s love for her dad.
Some users also shared their own similar life experiences.
Turner also started a GoFundMe campaign for Carey’s family. “Not only could they use the help with the wedding, her darling mom who stood right by his side and cared for her husband for years, could use some relief with any kind of medical, funeral, and/or home expenses,” Turner wrote in the Carey Family Memorial Fund.
