Shine OnDying father shares first dance with daughter at mock wedding
Rachel Wolf and her father Dr. James Wolf share a rare father-daughter relationship that some would be envious of, seemingly characterized by deep love and mutual respect.
So when Rachel, 25, asked her father, who is dying of pancreatic cancer, to participate in a mock wedding so that he would have the opportunity to get a "first dance" with her before he dies, he was thrilled.
"There are a lot of things that I would've liked the girls to experience with me being there," Dr. Wolf, 58, tells ABC while holding back tears. "And I'm not going to be there."
As a family physician, Dr. Wolf has been a prominent figure in the Auburn, Calif. community. So it was not too much of a surprise, then, when everything from the venue, photography, DJ, dress, and limousine were donated for the special day. As well, a local ABC news station agreed to film the whole affair on a sunny Saturday in July.
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Dr. Wolf almost didn't make it to the wedding because he was very weak that day, but got a push of strength just moments before arriving that evening in a limousine. And when he did, he couldn't have been more proud.
"Hi honey!” he yelled. “You look gorgeous!"
"Thanks Daddy!" she cried.
Rachel and her father shared a memorable dance to "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman at Auburn Recreation Park.
"I'm not going to watch it until my wedding day, so it'll be a surprise when it's happening" Rachel tells ABC.
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Photographer Matt Wescott from RMW Photo donated his time to shoot the occasion.
"I never knew how much this man had affected the Auburn community until I watched all the tears and smiles," he says.
Indeed, Dr. Wolf isn't just an incredible father, but also a wise man.
"Each and every day, we have a choice,” he says. “We have a choice to either love that person that's in front of us or not. It's the relationships that you build over the years that is the most important thing in life.”
“Everything else is just an illusion."
