Blue Room Photography/FacebookAn emotional video of a bride dancing at her wedding with her terminally-ill dad has gone viral leaving many reaching for a tissue or two.
As a child, Mary Bourne Roberts always enjoyed dancing to Lee Ann Womack’s 2000 hit I Hope You Dance in the kitchen with her dad Jim. The pair devised a plan to relive those memories at Mary’s wedding reception.
And on December 29 2018 in Point Clear, Alabama, that day arrived but it wasn’t exactly what they planned with Jim needing the use of a wheelchair.
Mary Bourne Butts/FacebookIn May 2017 Jim was diagnosed with glioblastoma, an incurable form of brain cancer which can kill within months, leaving him unsure if he would be able to attend his daughter’s wedding to fiance James Butts.
When it was time for the father and daughter dance Mary and Jim decided to make it count. A moment to remember, the pair twirled around the dance floor holding hands and singing along to their favourite song.
Jim also accompanied the bride down the aisle. He rested as the reception began, but arrived on the dance floor when he felt well enough to do so.
Mary Bourne Butts/FacebookMary, a professional dance teacher, pushed Jim in his wheelchair and also swayed with him during the dance which led to some tears being shed in the audience.
Video and photography company Blue Room Photography caught every second of the emotional dance on camera, sharing the three-and-a-half-minute long clip on their Facebook page.
Posted on Wednesday (January 2), the video has been viewed over 95,000 times with people sharing their love for it in the comments.
Check it out here:
Father-Daughter Dance – Jim and Mary Bourne
Sweetest Father-Daughter Dance ever! The bride, Mary Bourne Roberts (now Mrs. James Butts) is a professional dance teacher. Her father, attorney Jim Roberts, has a limited time on this earth. Mary Bourne chose "I Hope You Dance" by Lee Ann Womack for their Father-Daughter Dance and its just great! (Camera is hand held so please excuse the bumpiness).
Posted by Blue Room Photography on Wednesday, 2 January 2019
Describing what the dance meant to Mary, mother-of-the-bride Tracy Roberts called it a ‘testimony to her love for her dad’.
Speaking to Alabama Live, Tracy added:
It was such a good thing to happen to him. He would have cried through the whole thing even if he’d been on his feet.
He was overwhelmed with pride and the love he feels for her. It was a great day for him, a beautiful, perfect day for all of us.
Now, where is that box of tissues?
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