Weddings, as a rule, are joyous occasions.
It’s hard not to be happy when you’re celebrating the union of two people who love each other, plus, there’s usually good food and dancing involved!
But while we love the idea of wedded bliss, every now and then, we come across a wedding that, while still inherently joyful, is made bittersweet by the circumstances that surround it.
For example, it’s hard not to cry watching the bride who brought her wedding to her terminally ill father’s side walk down the aisle, and it’s harder still when it’s the bride or the groom that’s sick.
For those of us watching from the outside, it can be hard to understand why someone taking life one day at a time would want to go through the stress of planning the wedding.
But for terminally and chronically ill teenagers and young adults, the last few months, weeks, or years often offer a now-or-never opportunity to say “I do,” giving rise to a handful of wedding celebrations that are just as heartbreaking as they are touching.
The latest example? A young woman with cystic fibrosis, and her perfect, beautiful wedding day.
Update: Shelby 'Squeeker' Benoit passed away December 13. A friend of Benoit's tells us that she passed, "with her husband and family at her side."
Late this summer, pictures surfaced on the image-sharing site Imgur of a beautiful bride celebrating her wedding day in style, with friends and family all around her.
But the stunning wedding celebration hides a bittersweet backstory.
The beautiful bride, Shelby Benoit, is in the end stages of cystic fibrosis, an illness that affects the respiratory and digestive systems. She has also lived her whole life with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, or JRA.
Shelby tells us that she received her cystic fibrosis diagnosis at age eight, relatively late because the symptoms of her JRA obscured some of the signs.
Age eight was a tough year for her and her family; in addition to Shelby's diagnosis, her brother was in a motorcycle accident, she saw her mother face a breast cancer diagnosis, and she lost her father to colon cancer.
Fifteen years later, it's clear how strong she is; she receives constant treatment for CF, including medication, chest percussion therapy, and round-the-clock oxygen, but none of that stops her from having the spirit and moxie to throw a beautiful wedding, and look absolutely radiant doing it!
In the lovely pictures taken of the celebration, it's hard to miss the cannula in her nose, transporting life-sustaining oxygen to her body.
But it's just as impossible to miss the clear joy of the day for this young, beautiful bride who has made a concerted choice to surround herself with color; she and her groom are a veritable riot of hues, in celebration of the theme of the day.
When asked what colors they wanted for their wedding theme, they reportedly replied, "All of them." Shelby notes in an email, "I just really adore rainbows."
True to their word, every color in the rainbow is present in their decor, from the bride's bouquet of flower ranging from bright purple to sunset orange in hue, to the newlyweds' hairstyles: a purple-red chignon for Shelby accented with turquoise and a rose, and a vivid green mohawk for Kyle.
During the ceremony, Shelby's two brothers walked her down the aisle.
She kept her dad close throughout; a small pendant with a framed picture of him was attached to her bouquet so that he could still be a part of her ceremony.
Friends and family were a major part of the festivities, supporting the couple every step of the way.
Shelby best friend Kate "Ducky" Bush was on hand throughout, and even posted the photos to Imgur to share her friend's beautiful day with the world.
Shelby, who also goes by the nickname Squeeker Lee, met Kyle through mutual friends, and they struck up a friendship.
That friendship blossomed into love as the duo rode out health scares and challenges side by side.
In an email to LittleThings, Shelby described it like this, "He was really like my knight in shining armor. We clicked together so well, so fast, it was like we'd been together for longer than we've been alive. Its really one of those things that when you know, you just know."
They were engaged the day before Valentine's; they had cancelled their night out for the holiday because Shelby was sick, but Kyle surprised his sweet bride-to-be by popping the question.
They set a date right away, but almost immediately faced several hurdles. Shelby had a serious health scare in the spring that landed her in the hospital for 5 weeks, but, with plenty of help from family and friends, they managed to pull together a lovely summer wedding!
There were poignant moments, to be sure, but the overarching spirit of the day was happiness, hope, and, above all, a celebration of the union of two colorful souls.
The end stages of cystic fibrosis are an uncertain thing, and it's hard to know how much time Shelby and Kyle, clearly deeply in love, have left.
This stage of cystic fibrosis can last anywhere from a few months to several years, and Shelby's doctors have told her they really have no way of knowing how long she has.
Looking at these bright, beautiful photos, we know that these two, no matter how long they have, will make every minute and hour last.
If you were caught up in this sweet, melancholy love story, learn more at the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
You can also contribute to Shelby's Quality of Life Fund here to help this sweet young couple make the most of every moment!
Please make sure to SHARE with friends and family, and spread the word about cystic fibrosis research.
