Couple Weds Outside West Michigan Dialysis Center So Sick Father Can Attend

The pandemic has thrown a wrench into so many things we had planned for 2020, including weddings. My heart goes out to all the couples who have had to cancel, postpone, or make tons of changes to their special day.

One West Coast couple recently overcame obstacles of all kinds, holding their wedding in the parking lot of a West Michigan dialysis center, to ensure the bride's terminally ill father could give her away.

Wood TV 8 reports that Connie Gee and Matt Tsuchiya wed Saturday afternoon outside of Fresenius Kidney Care in Wyoming where Connie's dad, Ernest, is receiving treatment.

The two had only been engaged for a few months when Ernest suddenly became ill and went into hospice care. Knowing they'd love for him to be able to attend the ceremony, they moved up the date, and flew from the Portland, Oregon area to West Michigan.

Working out the ceremony was a challenge with COVID-19 restrictions.

“We had to be very creative with this along with the help of a lot of people. We were able to make this happen and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Matt tells Wood TV 8.

In full PPE gear, the couple gathered in the parking lot Saturday with an officiant, a small group of friends and family, medical staff - and Connie's dad. The ceremony had to be less than 15 minutes, to fit in between Ernest's dialysis treatment and the ambulance arriving to take him back to the nursing home.

Connie tells WZZM-13,

"We actually placed the wedding where his group of dialysis friends could see it from the windows.There was a nice path that we used for a make-shift aisle; I pushed my dad down the aisle in his wheelchair... The officiant asked, 'Who gives this woman away today,' and he got to say, 'Yes,' so my dream came true."

Congratulations to Connie and Matt! I'm so glad they were able to make this work and Connie's dad was able to be there.