Patients and families come first.

When Elizabeth was a young girl, she dreamed of a fairy-tale wedding…one in which she would say “I do” to the man of her dreams with her loved ones by her side. Never in her dream, however, did she imagine walking down the aisle twice in one day.

“I planned a picture-perfect event, starting with a ceremony at our neighborhood church,” said the 22-year-old bride-to-be. “But when I found out my mom could not attend, my heart broke and my dreams shattered.”

Sarah, Elizabeth’s 45-year-old mother, was diagnosed with a terminal illness and lay sick in VITAS’ hospice inpatient unit at Baylor All Saints Hospital in San Antonio. Despite her pain, the real burden came from the possibility she would miss her only daughter’s wedding.

“Sometimes dreams are all we have in life,” said Carlos Vasquez, the VITAS inpatient team secretary. “I told Elizabeth not to cancel her wedding at the church. Instead, I suggested we organize a wedding repeat at our unit so her mother could participate. There’s no harm in doubling the pleasure, right?”

The afternoon of Elizabeth’s wedding day, Carlos decorated Sarah’s room with ribbons, flowers and artificial doves. In the hallway, the team draped a tall arch with flowers, and set up rows of chairs, a decorated cake and a punch bowl. Lynn, a VITAS Volunteer, sat ready to play her harp. And Carlos, serving double duty that day, planned to record the memory of a lifetime on his personal camcorder.

Just before 7 p.m., Elizabeth, her new husband, their entire wedding party, and many of their guests arrived at the VITAS unit for the day’s second wedding ceremony. Sarah was alert and dressed in a fancy gown and a corsage that the care team purchased for her special day.

The minister from Elizabeth’s neighborhood church performed this second ceremony as well. “Elizabeth walked down our hallway just like she walked down the aisle at church,” said Carlos. “Both mother and daughter beamed with emotion. So did the VITAS team, in fact. We all watched a fairy tale become reality, and we were proud to be a part of it.”