True Love Story

Hmm.. I bet by now some of you already know about the story of Katie Kirkpatrick, but well.. I still want to post it here cuz I just received this email about 5 days ago..so I thought I wanted to share this with you..




The girl in this story is Katie Kirkpatrick, she is 21 . Her fiancé, Nick Godwin, 23. These pictures were 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. Katie had chased away cancer once, only to have it return - to clog her lungs and grab hold of her heart. Breathing was difficult now, she had to use oxygen. The pain in her back was so intense it broke through the morphine that was supposed to act as a shield. Her organs were shutting down but it would not stop her from marrying Nick, 23, who was in love with Katie since 11th grade.



In this picture, they were waiting for the nurse to come and start Katie's treatment at McLaren Regional Medical Center in Flint on the morning of January 12, 2005.







Nick Godwin who works night shift as a Lapeer County Sheriff's deputy took Katie to the medical center after a night's work, three days before their wedding. In the picture, Nick Godwin, left, is waiting for her and takes a moment of rest while his bride Katie Kirkpatrick, right, gets an intravenous procedure to reduce the amount of fluids her body is retaining at McLaren Regional Medical Center in Flint on January 12, 2005.




Katie holds some of her daily medication for several minutes before taking them as she waves in and out of sleep because of the morphine she takes while sitting in the living room of the family home in Metamora.



She was in a lot of pain in the days leading to her wedding taking morphine and numerous medications to help her. Niki Kirkpatrick,right, took a leave of absence from work so she can take care of her daughter, Katie who now needs constant assistance.




Katie walks past a photograph of herself when she was homecoming queen at Lapeer East High School where she also was a co-valedictorian. the photograph sits on a table in her family's home living room in Metamora.





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.



Katie puts on some earrings a few minutes before walking down the aisle to marry Nick Godwin, 23, who she had known since 11th grade, at Church of Christ in Hazel Park on Saturday January 15, 2005.




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 her son marrying his high school sweetheart.






Katie Kirkpatrick, 21, and Nick Godwin, 23, a Lapeer County Sheriff's deputy whom she first met when he was in 11th grade, get married at Church of Christ in Hazel Park on Saturday January 15, 2005.






Katie Kirkpatrick Godwin, right, in her wheelchair with the oxygen tube, gets serenaded by her new husband Nick Godwin, and his best men during the wedding party on the dance floor at Boulder Point Golf Club and Banquet Center in Oxford, MI, on Saturday January 15, 2005.







At the reception, Katie had to take a few rests. She was exhausted. Her face looked as white as her gown. The pain do not let her to be standing up for long periods.





Katie died five days later after her wedding day.

She did not let sickness stop her from living, take away the hope or faith that made her believe she had a future. She had a lovely wedding and she had love and she gave love and love doesn't die. And that is how Katie beat cancer.

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I cried when I read their story! What a strong and determined young woman, Katie was. I am truly amazed at her strength, to get up and get dressed and to be able to get married when she was really really sick and weak!! That is soo amazing! And what an amazing and awesome man, Nick is!! He loved her so much that he never left her side! To stay with her through her treatments, and most importantly, to marry her instead of breaking up and running away! That's just so damn amazing!




Watching a women so ill and weak getting married and with a smile on her face makes us think..

Happiness is reachable, no matter how long it last. We should stop making our lives complicated.

Life is short.



Break the rules.



Forgive quickly.



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.

XOXO,
S.