On Valentine’s Day, 2002, Katie Kirkpatrick, then a freshman at Rochester College, was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. Undaunted, Katie strove to keep up with her studies.
But she suffered another setback in 2003 when she was diagnosed with an inoperable lung tumor wrapped around her pulmonary artery. Nonetheless, in 2004 the resilient Katie took part in champion cyclist Lance Armstrong’s Ride for the Roses cancer fundraiser.
On January 11, 2005, twenty-one-year-old Katie - the girl 'with a contagious smile and unrelenting optimism' who had been battling cancer for three years ; married twenty-three-year-old Lapeer County sheriff’s deputy Nick Goodwin, her high school sweetheart and the love of her life, at Church of Christ in Hazel Park, Michigan.
The girl in the picture is Katie Kirkpatrick. Next to her, her fiance, Nick. The picture was taken shortly before their wedding ceremony, held on January 11, 2005 in the US . Katie has terminal cancer and spend hours a day receiving medication. In the picture, Nick is waiting for her on one of the many sessions of chemo to end.
In spite of all the pain, organ failures, and morphine shots, Katie is going along with her wedding and took care of every detail. The dress had to be adjusted a few times due to her constant weight loss.
An unusual accessory at the party was the oxygen tube that Katie used throughout the ceremony and reception as well. The other couple in the picture are Nick’s parents. Excited to see their son marrying his high school sweetheart.
Katie, in her wheelchair with the oxygen tube , listening to a song from her husband and friends.
At the reception, Katie had to take a few rests. The pain did not allow her to stand for long periods.
Katie died five days after her wedding day. Watching a woman so ill and weak getting married and with a smile on her face makes us think . . . Happiness is reachable, no matter how long it lasts. We should stop making our lives complicated.
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Life is short. Break the rules. Forgive quickly. Kiss passionately, love truly. Laugh constantly. And never stop smiling. No matter how strange life is, life is not always the party we expected to be. But as long as we are here, we should smile and be grateful.
Note : Just a forwarded e-mail I felt like sharing.
