Daughter Arranges Wedding At Alzheimer’s Care Center So That Her Dad Could Walk Her Down The Aisle!

It is probably every father’s dream to walk his daughter down the aisle at the time of her wedding. For 64-year-old Bernard Reeves, it wasn’t a possibility because of his ailment. Reeves has advanced staged Alzheimer’s disease which meant that he was under constant medical care. If his daughter were to get married at a Church, he was definitely going to miss the all-important occasion.

However, for Miriam Davis, his daughter, making her father miss her wedding wasn’t an option. While Miriam and her fiancé Mark Davis had planned a traditional church wedding, their actual wedding took place at a very unusual location. The couple actually got married at the nursing home where her father Bernard Reeves was being treated. And not only did Reeves get to witness her wedding, he did actually get to walk his daughter down the aisle as teary eyed weddings guests looked on.

The wedding happened on Saturday at the Foundation Park Alzheimer’s Care Center in Toledo, Ohio reports ABC News. Bernard was all smiles when he gave his daughter away to Mark.

For Miriam, there was nothing more important than her dad’s presence at her wedding. While she was sure that her dad would have been near her if he was healthy, his disease meant it was unlikely that he would be able to attend it had the wedding happened at the originally planned venue. The couple had initially planned for their wedding at their church in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Miriam later told The Blade, Toledo why she had decided to change the venue of her wedding to the nursing home her dad was admitted to;

“My dad has been my hero my entire life and I know that if he was well, he would be at my wedding front and center. And I thought, Why not move it there and it would be more of a special event?”

When it was finally decided that the wedding would happen at the nursing home, she called up officials there who were excited about the prospect.

Bernard Reeves might have not fully realized that it was his daughter’s wedding on Saturday. However, he still recognizes Miriam, according to his wife Marie Reeves. Bernard, a Vietnam War veteran was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease back in 2006 and was moved to the nursing home two years ago after his ailment worsened. At the current stage of the disease, he is unable to take care of himself and seldom talks.

For everyone in the family, the very presence of Reeves at the wedding was a thing to be happy about. Doesn’t this touching story remind you of Jim Zetz, the cancer afflicted father who walked down the aisle with his 11-year-old daughter?

[Image Via Amy E. Voigt/ The Blade, Toledo]